Organ donor families, recipients celebrate Donate Life Month at Jefferson Hospital
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Keonna Knox is looking forward to celebrating milestones with her son now that she has a second chance at life after having a kidney and pancreas transplant in February.
"I got my life back! I did! I did and it feels great," Know said.
However, her gratitude doesn't come without recognizing and honoring the reason she has this opportunity.
"That's the part that hurts -- that somebody had to die in order for me to live," she said.
Knox was back at Jefferson Hospital Friday, celebrating life at their Donate Life Month festivities.
"It really is an amazing experience," said Gary Stever.
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The event is emotional for Stever, too. His 40-year-old son Dave was an organ donor after a fatal fall in July.
"Our loss is going to have such a huge and expanding impact on the lives of so many other people," Stever said.
Doctors say there aren't enough people, like Dave, who donate, and because of that, 17 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant.
In fact, right now in Philadelphia, 5,000 people are waiting for life-saving organ transplants. Nationally, the number is 100,000.
"The number of people who can be helped by one donor is phenomenal," said Dr. Warren Maley, the head of the Jefferson Transplant Institute.
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Dr. Maley said one donor can save eight lives, as well as enhance a hundred others with things like tissue transplants.
"We've just reached a milestone of a million transplants in the United States," Dr. Maley said.
Knox said she'll be forever grateful to her unknown donor and their family.
"I know I'm living for the two of us," she said. "I'm fighting for both of us now."
For Stever, he thinks about the person who received a cornea from his son for their vision.
"What is that person able to see today because of Dave," Stever said. "Are they looking at a baby just born into their family?"
Their transplants aren't related, but Stever and Know share a special bond of giving and living.
For more information or if you're interested in becoming a donor, visit the Gift of Life website.