Sunday, August 27, 2017

Transplant Recipient International Organization Baseball Game



Playing Baseball with Spare Parts


Denise and I received an invitation from the Seattle chapter of the Transplant Recipient International Organization to attend and participate in a baseball game/picnic with transplant recipients. Wow! I wasn’t sure how I could participate other than to bring food for the picnic. When Denise and I walked from our car to the yellow wooden picnic area canopy, we were greeted by a kidney recipient, Muff and a heart recipient, David. They both beamed broad smiles as they opened their arms to hug us. They led us to the picnic tables and then David called everyone’s attention. He introduced us as Donor Parents. Everyone stood up and clapped their appreciation. David invited everyone to eat and get to know each other.
When most of us were through eating, David asked for a show of hands from those who had received lifesaving body parts. He then identified the teams. The heart and livers would play the kidneys, lungs and everyone else. Denise and I were told that we could be on any team since our son had donated everything. Denise and I played on the Kidney team since they had the fewest number of players.
I was the pitcher for the kidney and lung team. When it was our teams time at bat, we gathered in the dugout. I listened to the tragic stories that were turned around by generous persons who donated their organs. One of the kidney recipients laughed about how he hated broccoli and now that he has a new kidney he loves the vegetable. He wondered if his donor loved broccoli. I asked a 50 year old heart recipient who received a 20 year old heart if he got excited when he saw young 20 year old women. He grinned and then his wife hit him on the back of the head as she said, “That’s why he lost his first heart.” We all laughed. I don’t remember which team won the baseball game. It didn’t matter. We laughed and got to know each other in the most intimate way.

My heart is happy knowing that our son’s organs not only extended life for the recipients, they also enhanced the lives of those related to the recipients in some way.
That is yet another reason why Denise and I have been organ and tissue donor advocates.

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