2006 Ride of a Lifetime Winners
Congratulations to all of the Ride of a Lifetime essay contest entrants. Your stories truly represented the theme of the 2006 Donate Life Tournament of Roses® Parade float— "Life Transformed."
The selected top five essayists were part of the Donate Life float on January 2, 2006. Astellas wants to thank everyone who entered the contest for sharing their story. Each entry was truly inspirational.
Lyda Kroening
Citrus Heights, CA
Liver recipient
Click here to read Lyda's story
America Leyva
Artesia, NM
Kidney recipient
Click here to read America's story
Avery Livingston
Portage, IN
Kidney recipient
Click here to read Avery's story
Nicole Brook Stoe
New Baltimore, PA
Liver recipient
Click here to read Nicole's story
Kurt Wiltcher
Moselle, MI
Liver recipient
Click here to read Kurt's story
Tournament of Roses is a registered trademark of the Tournament of Roses Association.
Lyda Kroening
Citrus Heights, CA
Liver recipient
Almost everyone has heard of the miracle of organ transplantation. For most of us, it's just an interesting concept rather than a compelling personal call to action. Until 2 years ago, I was no different. But somewhere, a wise and selfless young woman saw a role she could play in the miracle and did something about it. Her action saved my life, and her legacy now lives on in me.
Without warning, my whole life changed. I had been experiencing symptoms whose cause remained mysterious for months. In an instant, my life seemed to shatter when the doctor told me I was already in end-stage liver disease! We could try some holding actions, but the only real hope was a transplant.
How could this possibly be happening? Surely I was meant to live longer than 54 years! Surely I was meant to raise my children to adulthood and someday cradle grandchildren in my arms! Surely my husband and I were meant to grow old together! Whatwouldhappen if we couldn't find a donor in time? How could my family endure this ordeal? I was totally overwhelmed by fear and doubt.
Time assumed a new importance. My illness progressed so quickly, it became evident that unless I received a transplant soon, I would be too weak to survive the surgery. On the question of transplantation, all we could do was wait and hope. On thequestion of living, however, I couldn't afford to wait. Time had become finite and precious, and I had to make the best use of it that I could. Deferring important things until later just wasn't an option.
Just in time, I received the greatest gift of all, the gift of life. I can only marvel at the vision of my donor. She was younger than I am and she had even less reason to anticipate drastic change. She had acted upon her belief in the organ donor program, though, and the importance was profound. Although I didn't know her, I deeply admire and respect her. I have set a course to build upon her vision and action. My volunteer work is directed toward raising public awareness of the need fordonors, a conviction I am continuing to promote in her honor.
My concept of time is forever altered. The 18 months since my transplant represents less than 3% of my life-span but profoundly affects my perspective. I have learned to appreciate and value the wonders of living. Things that I previously rushed through or deferred 'til later now command my attention. As I've traveled on this journey, my life has been touched by kind, caring, and loving people. Each day is a renewed blessing.
I have also learned to see that even death is not hopeless. My donor's example serves as a lesson I hope to teach others. Without question, I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world.
America Leyva
Artesia, NM
Kidney recipient
My heart was pounding, my 10-year-old heart was racing, and I felt my knees give out when my doctor told me that I had gone into renal failure and that I would have to start dialysis. Even though I did not understand what this meant, my mom's tears and look of desperation caused a sudden panic in the pit of my stomach.
My name is America Leyva and my entire life changed in 2001. I went through a lot of trauma dealing with school, doctor visits, and coping with a new life that I did not want, but now I realize that my kidney transplant changed my whole life for the best. I had the opportunity to meet new people, I opened my eyes to the important things in life, and I gained confidence in myself and my faith in God.
My transplant enabled me to meet four wonderful people. My donor family and I share a very special connection. They gave me the gift of life, and there is nothing more special than that. My donor was only 12 years old, and he died in a skiing accident. I was also 12 years old at the time of my transplant, and I feel that Blane and I were soul-mates. We had lots of things in common. We were both part of an enrichment program at our schools, we were both positive, outgoing individuals, and we made friends very easily. The first few months after my transplant, I used to cry myself to sleep at night because I thought that I was responsible for Blane's death. I couldn't live with myself. Now 2 years after my transplant, I realize that God knows when he needs you in heaven, and Blane is my angel.
My transplant also helped me gain confidence in faith. When I got diagnosed, I had a rough time getting adjusted to my new middle school. Because I was at dialysis, I lost all of my friends. My confidence disappeared and I became lonesome. It was painful to be rejected by my peers at school. I could no longer do things that "normal" girls my age could, like go swimming and eat chocolate. Not to mention all of the weight that I lost. I was 5'7", and I only weighed 88 pounds. Girls at school would tell me how lucky I was to be a size 3 in jeans, but it was awful.
After the most dangerous battle of my life and after my kidney transplant, I got the courage to run for president of my freshmen class. Even though there was a lot of talk from my competitors saying that I had only won because people felt pity for me, I also got a lot of positive feedback congratulating me for being a good president at the end of my ninth-grade year. At the end of the year, I also got voted by my peers to get the Peacemaker Award, which is only given to two lucky students out of the ninth grade. I have been through tough times in the past 5 years, but I have also discovered God's amazing grace. I need nothing more because I was given the gift of life.
Avery Livingston
Portage, IN
Kidney recipient
I have never written an essay before, but my mom says it is like telling a story. So this is the story of me. I was born with something called VATER syndrome.
Every letter stands for something that was wrong. The first thing was my esophagus—it was not connected to my stomach, so that was my first surgery the day after I was born. I have had operations to replace my esophagus, fix my hands, and stop my ureter reflux and that was to be my last surgery, but it was the start of my bladder problems. Once we got my bladder under control, I got the flu when I was 8. It lasted a long time and ended with my losing my kidneys.
We tried peritoneal dialysis, but that did not work because of my operation scars. So we traveled to Chicago three days a week for hemodialysis. The next year my dad gave me one of his kidneys, but first I had to have more operations. I had my kidneys taken out and my bladder rebuilt. It took a long time for my new kidney to get healthy; I had a lot of infections. But the doctors at Children's Memorial have my kidney working pretty good. I would really like to thank all the doctors and nurses that took care of me and are my friends.
So the biggest change in my life is all the people I care about and that care about me. I go to middle school now; I am going into eighth grade. I really love my school. I have so many good friends and everyone in the school knows me and says "Hi" all the time. I am not very tall or strong, so the teachers and classmates help me to get into my locker and carry heavy things. My teachers are all super nice to me and give me extra time on the assignments. I have extra teachers that come in to help me in the hard classes.
I am a part of the choir team and we have even gone to an ensemble contest and won third place. One of the best things I do during the school year is to be a manager on the girls basketball team. I have been one of the managers for the last 2 years. I help the girls during practices and I try to run the clock, but mainly, I made lots of good friends. When I lost my hearing aids, my school offered to help pay for the replacements. Almost everywhere I go around town people recognize me and say "Hi". I am so lucky to have a family, a transplant team, and a school to make my life special and fun after transplant.
Nicole Brook Stoe
New Baltimore, PA
Liver recipient
Many people don't realize how precious life can be until tragedy hits. My family and I used to be uninformed about organ donation. I was a healthy 16-year-old until December 3, 1990. I experienced flu-like symptoms and my skin turned gold. My parents drove me to a hospital in Cumberland, Maryland where the doctors thought I had hepatitis. One of the doctors had worked with patients suffering from Wilson's disease and she assumed that this is what I had.
On December 4th, this doctor contacted a liver specialist at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and told him of my condition. They decided that I should be transferred to Pittsburgh, where, upon arrival, various tests were performed.
On December 5th, my family was informed that I had gone into a coma and was being moved to the ICU and that I would die in less than 24 hours if I didn't have a liver transplant. After 21 hours passed, prayers were answered. I was prepared for surgery, which lasted 10-1/2 hours. After my surgery, it was confirmed that I had Wilson's disease, a genetic disorder that inhibits the liver from discarding the copper that builds up in it.
I am forever in debt to a young man from West Virginia, hisgracious family, and the transplant team at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. I thank God every day for the second chance at life. Without it, I would never have graduated from high school and college, gotten married, or know the joy of giving birthto and raising a very HEALTHY son.
Since my transplant, I give more of myself to others. I strive to help others. Every year I volunteer as a counselor for a pediatric transplant camp. I took part in a documentary that is given to patients when they are discharged from the hospital to explain how to take care of themselves after transplantation. I have made myself available through my coordinator for patients who want to talk or ask questions about having a baby after transplantation.
Before I had my transplant, my early teen years were spent worrying about how I looked to other people. When I was in the hospital, a "friend" told me that I should never wear a bikini again because of how ugly my scar was. I quickly answered that I didn't care what it looked like or what other people thought. I am proud of that scar because without it I would not be here. To this day, I still wear my bikini. Because of my personal experience, my family and I have all signed organ donation cards. I talk with my friends and new acquaintances about the importance of organ donation. I hope that by talking to whomever I can, I might help another person like me.
In conclusion, I have become a strong advocate of the organ donation program, which saved my life. I will continue to support this program so that others can be saved.
Kurt Wiltcher
Moselle, MS
Liver recipient
The summer I turned 16 was certainly unusual. I had returned from volunteering at a Christian camp where I'd been dirt boarding and rock wall climbing when my eyes began turning yellow. Monday morning, I was at the office of a doctor I'd never met—without an appointment. Within minutes I was having tests run and answering a thousand questions. I wanted them to give me some medicine to satisfy my parents and let me go back to my normal activities of lifeguarding and playing baseball, which didn't happen.
Within a 2-week period, I was transferred to another doctor, hospitalized, transferred to another hospital and another doctor. I'll never forget when the surgeon told my family that I needed a liver transplant and that I wasn't leaving the hospital without it. He seemed surprised to learn that I had finished my sophomore year with perfect attendance and that I'd been on the varsity swim team, soccer, and baseball team. He said that I'd been sick for years but I had not slowed down enough to notice. That's how I intended to keep it!
My hospital stay never dampened my spirits. I spent months playing games with younger patients, learning to juggle, and making balloon animals. After my transplant and recovery, I said goodbye and quickly resumed my normal activities.
Nine weeks after my surgery, I returned to school and swam in the last meet of the season, just missing the state qualifying time. The looks that I got made me realize that I had a great avenue to telling my story. Throughout high school, I continued to play sports. I tried out for and made the junior college soccer team. The coach didn't realize that I'd had a transplant until a preseason shirts and skins scrimmage game; I was on skins. Then I told everyone about my transplant.
My work as a lifeguard/swim instructor at the YMCA has been a great opportunity to share my experience. Each year, over 1,000 students participate in a swimming program. With each new group, I can't wait for kids to ask "What happened to you?," so I can tell my story.
I helped create a kids transplant group and edit the newsletter that is published twice yearly. My idea of a portable 10-hole goofy golf course, that has information and pictures displayed by each hole, has been set up at events throughout the state. The people who play want to become organ donors. I also speak to church, school, and civic groups.
If I could turn back time, I wouldn't change anything. My transplant has been the most positive event in my life. Not only has it made me stronger and more energetic, it has allowed me to meet some of the most fascinating people. It has helped me realize that each day is a gift. Maybe through it, I can make a difference in the life of someone else.
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