拯救生命的給予

I am one of the fortunate ones and now it’s my turn to help others.

I just recently returned from an amazing trip to Durban， South Africa where I participated in the 19th World Transplant Games. I have been competing in the Transplant Games since 1996. I am not the most skilled athlete by any stretch of the imagination but the fact that I am able to compete is what matters. You see， the summer after 4th grade I failed a sports physical. I had protein in my urine. I had a 1）biopsy done at the Detroit Children’s Hospital and was diagnosed with kidney disease.

Life was pretty tough as a youngster； every week it seemed like I was visiting a doctor and it wasn’t my idea of fun. As time went on and my condition was stable， the weekly visits turned into monthly visits， then into yearly checkups. Then came the day that would forever change who I am…

It was the end of September of my senior year of high school and I almost died. My kidneys suddenly， without warning， went into end stage 2）renal failure and I was in a coma for four days. My new life consisted of many hospital visits because I was now in need of 3）dialysis treatments to stay alive. Dialysis was extremely hard for me as an 18-year-old. Not only did my body not tolerate the treatments very well but it was tough to see other people， some my newfound friends， doing dialysis at the same time with me and then not show up one day because they succumbed to the harshness of kidney disease.

In the years since being diagnosed with kidney disease I have had two kidney transplants， graduated from college twice（undergraduate and graduate degrees）， and have traveled all over the world， thanks to both professional opportunities and being part of the transplant community and competing in the Transplant Games. It’s hard to think back on that time in my life and think I am that person who went through all of those struggles， but I know I am.

Now I know that my role in life isn’t to dominate in sports， but to try to educate people on the importance of organ donation. Because of the anonymous gift of life that somebody gave to me， my donor—my hero， I am still here today and having a wonderful life. Not everyone is as fortunate as I am though， so I feel it is my responsibility to try to spread the word， so people understand that there are more than 115，000 people in the United States awaiting the gift of life right today. Sadly not all of these people are fortunate to make it to the day where they can receive a transplant because there are not enough donors.

If you haven’t signed up yet to become an organ donor I suggest you think about how you might be able to help somebody out someday with the most important gift of all. It is also possible that someday you， a close friend or a family member could be one of the unfortunate ones waiting for somebody else to register to be an organ donor so you can see why educating people about the importance of organ donation helps everyone out. If you were touched by my story then please register to become an organ， eye or tissue donor today and help me spread the word！

Organ donation is an act of giving that truly does change—and save—lives.

我是那些幸運兒之一，現(xiàn)在輪到我去幫助別人了。

我最近進行了一次奇妙的旅行，剛從南非的德班回來，我在那里參加了第19屆世界移植運動會。自1996年起，我就一直有參加這個移植運動會。無論怎么看，我都絕對稱不上是個運動健將，但是我可以參加比賽這一事實才是最重要的。你看，在四年級結(jié)束后的那個夏天，我沒有辦法參加體育運動。我的尿液里面含有蛋白質(zhì)。我在底特律兒童醫(yī)院進行了活組織切片檢查，結(jié)果診斷出我患有腎病。

那時的生活對于一個青少年來說相當(dāng)?shù)钠D難；似乎我每周都要去看一次醫(yī)生，而這在我看來一點兒也不好玩。隨著時間的推移，我的情況有所穩(wěn)定，每周一次的看病變?yōu)槊吭乱淮危缓笞兂闪嗣磕暌淮蔚臋z查。然后我迎來了徹底改變我人生的那天……

那是在我高中最后一年的九月末，我差點就死了。我的腎沒有任何預(yù)警地進入了腎衰竭末期，我昏迷了整整四天。我的新生活包含了多次的醫(yī)院造訪，因為我當(dāng)時需要通過透析治療來活命。透析對當(dāng)時的我—一個十八歲的小伙子來說相當(dāng)?shù)睦щy。不僅我的身體沒法很好地忍受這些治療，而且看到其他人—我一些新交的朋友—和我一起做著透析，然后有一天卻不再出現(xiàn)，因為他們輸給了殘酷的腎病，這對我來說非常痛苦。

被確診患有腎病之后的這些年里，我接受過兩次腎移植手術(shù)，從大學(xué)畢業(yè)了兩次（本科和碩士學(xué)位），同時多虧了工作機會以及以移植手術(shù)康復(fù)患者的身份參與移植運動會，我還游遍了全世界。