| Converging
on the path of life by
Scott Freutel |
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Martrel
Johnson
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| In
late December the Bozeman Daily Chronicle
ran a long, moving story about Martrel Johnson,
the 6-foot-5, 225-pound freshman forward on the
MSU men's basketball team. Johnson had triumphed
over a life-threatening disease thanks to a kidney
transplant; the kidney was donated by his father,
Martin. A year and a half after the operation, the
younger Johnson is still recovering--but he's playing
basketball again, and playing it well. |
| Two
MSU alumni, Scott W. Northup, '91 BusMktg,
and Patty Boyd, '71 HomeEcon, have built
careers in the field of organ transplants. Northup
works for the Pacific Northwest Transplant Bank,
in Portland, Ore., a nonprofit that works to garner
organ donations. |
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| Northup's
agency, one of 59 federally approved organ procurement
organizations across the country, is charged with
recovering organs for transplant in Oregon, southern
Washington State, and western Idaho. The process
begins with the training of "designated requesters"
who educate medical specialists and clergy and members
of the public about organ donation and solicit donations
from potential donors and their families. In many
cases, the process ends with the successful removal,
transportation and transplanting of a donor's abdominal
organs (kidneys, liver, pancreas, small bowel) and
thoracic organs (heart and lungs). |
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Scott
W. Northup
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| Northup's
chief concern is for the acquisition of abdominal and thoracic
organs. Donors may also contribute skin, mandibles, blood, corneas
and other tissue and fluids that may be used to heal ill or
injured people. He makes it his business to learn of the imminent
death of registered and possible donors, talks with the donor's
family, helps arrange the donation, and then dispatches surgical
specialists who actually procure the donor's organs and sometimes
transplant them into waiting patients. |
| Boyd works
the other side of the equation. She directs special services
at Denver's Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, where she's
responsible for kidney and pancreas transplants. Her job is
helping to locate appropriate recipients for donated organs--specifically
kidneys and pancreases--and to arrange for surgical transplant
teams to do their work, usually on very tight deadlines. Donors
and recipients are carefully matched, in part through a nationwide
registry meant to secure the best possible fit and to give the
most deserving recipients the best shot at receiving a donated
organ. |
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| Patty
Boyd, left, with snowboarder Chris Klug, Olympic
snowboarder and organ recipient (and bronze medal-winner)
and friend Ann Kirby at a Donor Awareness Council
function in Denver in March 2002. |
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| Both
Boyd and Northup came to their present positions
more by chance than by planning.Boyd was trained
at MSU as a dietitian, then received a master's
degree in public health from the University of California,
Berkeley. She's worked with transplant teams for
eight years. Northup studied marketing at MSU's
College of Business, then worked as a medic in Portland,
Ore., after graduating. He has been with Pacific
Northwest Transplant for eight years. |
| Both
Boyd and Northup talked about the profound effects
of organ donation and transplanting. |
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| "When I
first started my training, I attended a function for people
whose loved ones had donated organs," Boyd said. "There, I met
a woman who said to me, 'A piece of my son lives on in other
people.' I was very moved by that." |
| Northup
points out that donating a family member's organs can be "very
therapeutic" for families. "Although they've lost a family member,
they can take solace in knowing that their family member can
save somebody else's life," he said. |
| But isn't
it hard to talk with people whose loved ones are dying about
the possibility of donations? |
| "Yes,"
said Northup, "because whether it comes out consciously or unconsciously,
we're asking people to think about their mortality, and people
are uneasy about this. But when most people take a few minutes
to learn what is really involved, the decision becomes easier."
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| Northup
points out that an organ donor can affect the lives of at least
eight people. Every donation can improve or extend--often both
improve and extend--the life of its recipient. |
| MSU's Martrel
Johnson was fortunate indeed in being able to accept a kidney
from his father. Most people who need transplants aren't so
fortunate. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing
(UNOS), more than 82,000 Americans are waiting for transplants,
but there are fewer than 14,000 potential donors. (In 2002,
some 6,000 patients died while awaiting organs.) And for every
person who receives a transplant, two more are added to the
waiting list. |
| Boyd and
Northup are working to improve these statistics--and the lives
of strangers uncounted. |
| One place
to learn more about organ donation and to register as a donor
of organs, tissue or other bodily parts for transplanting or
for research is the Living Legacy Registry, www.livinglegacyregistry.org. |
| Photo Credits:
Scott Northup (Headshot of Scott Northup), MSU athletics file
photo (Basketball shot of Martrel Johnson, Patty Boyd (Image
with caption) |
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