Three families share unique and special life-giving bond
Three local families will be part of the 2015 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California on New Year’s Day.
Laurie LoMonaco of Brockport, Mary Guyette and Gates Orlando will represent the many organ donors and recipients from upstate New York while riding on or walking with the Donate Life Rose Parade float.
A special send-off celebration hosted by the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network (FLDRN) and UR Medicine’s Solid Organ Transplant Programs was held Monday, December 8 at Strong Memorial Hospital for the three families who share a very special and remarkable bond.
In January 2013, Laurie LoMonaco became a living donor, giving one of her kidneys altruistically through the UR Medicine Transplant Program.
She remembers it was difficult for her to share her decision with family and friends, but when she shared her intentions with best friends Mary and Paul Guyette, Paul was very impressed by her decision and deeply moved.
“It sparked an interest in him,” Mary tells the Suburban News/The Herald. “He thought she was a hero. He was in awe of her decision.”
“To Paul I was a hero,” Laurie said during the send-off celebration December 8, but noted it was Paul who “… became a bigger hero for so many.”
Paul unexpectedly became that hero through a remarkable series of events. Only ten days after Laurie underwent surgery to donate her kidney, Paul was stricken with a fatal intracranial brain hemorrhage on February 3, 2013.
His wife Mary said she was in shock and uncertain what to do when approached about donating Paul’s organs. Then she remembered how Laurie’s selfless gift had inspired Paul. He had spoken with his father about his interest in becoming an organ donor and Mary decided to give her consent for Paul’s organs to be donated.
When she returned home after her husband’s death, Mary explained to their nine and eleven year old daughters about her decision to donate Paul’s organs. “Oh my God, Mommy,” her 11-year old daughter said, “he’d be so happy.”
“That was my answer,” Mary explains, “I felt at peace.”
Laurie was able to visit Paul in the hospital before he died. “It was he who had been the hero all along,” she said.
Paul’s liver and kidneys saved the lives of three middle-aged men. His saphenous veins were used in vascular graphs for two patients having coronary artery bypass surgery, and his corneas have restored sight for two individuals.
Paul’s heart was given to Gates Orlando, a retired NHL player with the Buffalo Sabres as well as the Rochester Amerks. Gates was at Strong and had been there waiting for a heart for ten months. He had been kept alive during that time with a total artificial heart – the first person in upstate New York to receive one. Both the donor and recipient were in the same city, the same hospital, and were perfect matches.
Paul was a big sports fan, including the Sabres, and Mary says the family is proud the gift of life makes it possible for Gates to live a full life and advocate for more people to join the organ donor registry.
Gates did not meet the Guyette family for many months after the transplant.Mary felt ready to make the connection a year ago in December during the Frozen Frontier event in which Gates made an appearance. The two met behind the scenes. “We went from tears to laughter,” Mary says.
“It’s not about me,” Gates told the Suburban News/The Herald about his role as recipient, and notes the emotional recovery was tougher than the physical recovery from his surgery. “Recipients understand,” he said, regarding the bittersweet nature of the organ donation process. He also described survivor’s guilt and feelings of sadness for the life that was lost as well as others who remain in need of transplants. “A lot of patients didn’t make it – Why did I have the chance?” Gates observes.
He visits those waiting for heart transplants at Strong weekly.
Laurie LoMonaco has accompanied him and says the visits are uplifting for patients. “He is honest – he tells them, ‘this is what you need to do,’ he gives them hope,” she says.
Gates will ride on the Rose Parade float on New Year’s Day next to a floragraph of Paul. Laurie will walk along side Gates’ spot on the float.
“We share a very deep bond that will never be broken by time or distance,” Laurie said December 8 about herself, Mary, Paul and Gates. “Donors give hope to so many who need it.”
The theme for the 2015 Donate Life float is “The Never Ending Story.” The float design features butterflies emerging from storybooks to symbolize the enduring power of organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation.
“Each New Year, Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network is honored to play a small part in the Rose Parade and the opportunity to spread the message about donation to such a large audience,” said FLDRN Executive Director Rob Kochik.
He described this year’s float which “features 60 beautiful butterflies emerging from an open book, representing the number of lives transformed by a single deceased donor,” Kochik said. “The butterflies ascend above 72 volumes adorned with floragraph portraits of deceased donors whose legacies are nurtured by their loved ones. Walking alongside the float will be 12 living organ donors whose stories have become intertwined with those of their recipients. Seated among thousands of dedicated roses are 30 riders representing transplant recipients who celebrate the new chapters of their lives made possible only by the generosity of donors.”
Mary Guyette and her daughters, Jenna and Emma, completed the floragraph of Paul during the send-off event December 8.
