Boston Marathon: running for Donate Life and New England Organ Bank

Boston Marathon - Croke running for Donate Life and New England Organ Bank

Burlington Union
Posted Apr 15, 2010 @ 12:52 PM

Burlington —

Bob Croke of Burlington will run the Boston Marathon on April 19 as part of the New England Organ Bank’s Donate Life New England Marathon Team that will take to the roads of Eastern Mass. as part of the historic Boston Marathon.

The team consists of 26 marathoners who run with a Donate Life insignia emblazoned across their running shirts to raise awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation and to urge those watching the marathon to consider registering to be organ and tissue donors.

“This is our fourth year with a team participating in the Boston Marathon and it is our largest team yet,” said Jennifer Cray, New England Organ Bank Marathon Team Coordinator. “Among the runners is a transplant surgeon, a donor family member, a living lung donor and a living kidney donor. We hope their running will raise awareness of the need for more people to think about signing up to be donors.”

There are currently more than 4,400 patients waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in New England, and over 106,000 across the United States. Each year, about 6,600 of those listed will die because an organ is not donated in time.

Additionally, more than one million Americans require a tissue transplant each year as part of a medical procedure. These procedures are possible because ordinary folks have donated corneas, bone, tendons, heart valves and skin after death. These tissues are used to treat a wide variety of conditions, some of which may be life threatening.

This easiest way to register as a donor is to sign up online at www.DonateLifeNewEngland.org. The Donate Life New England Donor Registry is a computer database of individuals who have made the decision to be a donor and can be accessed in timely way after an individual’s passing so that their wish to donate may be honored.

Boston Marathon 2010

Burlington runners

Name Age Gender

Christopher Alban 35 M

Jacqueline Boyle 45 F

Robert Croke 53 M

Jason Dekow 26 M

Marsha Hogan 44 F

Valerie Humphreys 47 F

Shari Marquis 39 F

Rafe Maxwell 46 M

Andrew Merlino 46 M

Stephanie Meyer 23 F

Kathleen Murphy 24 F

Tina Pesiridis 41 F

Jennifer Ryu 28 F

Marie Shay 53 F

Timothy Short 29 M

David Tait 48 M

Stephen Tremblay 35 M

Kristin Worthington 39 F

http://www.wickedlocal.com/burlington/sports/x57951682/Boston-Marathon-Croke-running-for-Donate-Life