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Hometown Hero Chosen to Ride on Donate Life Rose Parade Float
Fort Worth, Texas (Dec. 1, 2011) – Giant floral clocks will rise above 28 individuals whose participation as riders aboard Donate Life’s ninth Rose Parade Float will inspire others to save and heal lives through the gifts of organ, eye and tissue donation. Through their life-changing experiences, the families of organ and tissue donors, living donors and recipients know intimately the preciousness of time. On Jan. 2, 2012 their presence will help bring special meaning to the float’s theme, “One More Day.”
The 28 riders, who range in age from 17 to 67, represent the wide range of donors and recipients whose lives have been touched by donation. Among the riders is American Airlines Fleet Service Clerk, Juan Espino of Fort Worth, Texas, husband of Stella Espino, who gave the gift of life as an organ and tissue donor in 2010. Juan’s participation in the 2012 Donate Life Rose Parade is being sponsored by Cytonet, a biotechnology company.
Stella Espino died unexpectedly at the age of 44 shortly before celebrating 25 years of marriage with Juan, the love of her life. Juan and Stella’s story was one of love at first sight and it continues to grow stronger, even after Stella’s death.
It was Stella’s lifelong wish to be an organ donor and when the time came, Juan carried out her wishes. Her organs saved the lives of eight people and her tissue enhanced the lives of 85 other individuals. Her gift exemplifies the vast uses for donated organs and tissue. Beyond the traditional uses, advances in medicine mean the possibilities continue to grow. For example, Juan’s sponsor, Cytonet, is using cells not suitable for transplantation to create an experimental liver cell therapy for very sick babies and children with urea cycle disorders, which are genetic and often life-threatening disorders affecting ammonia metabolism in the liver.
After Stella’s death, Juan became a fierce advocate for donation, volunteering for LifeGift, the nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization that services Southeast, North and West Texas. He has taken his passion for saving lives to a large international audience through mediums such as American Way, the in-flight magazine of his employer, American Airlines.
“Juan exemplifies the passion that fuels our volunteer program in our North Region,” said Teresa Shafer, executive vice president and chief operating officer for LifeGift. “He works tirelessly to promote donation throughout the state of Texas and beyond. We are proud to have him as a member of our extended family.”
“We are humbled to honor the legacy of the love and life of Stella Espino and we are proud to sponsor Juan as a float rider,” said Mark Johnston, president and chief operating officer for Cytonet. “When we heard the Espino family’s story, we knew we had an amazing opportunity to help raise awareness about the importance of donation.”
“We are grateful to Cytonet for sponsoring such a deserving donor family for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Sam Holtzman, president and chief executive officer of LifeGift. “It is stories like Juan and Stella’s that will help us achieve our vision of a day when everyone in our community says ‘yes’ to donation.”
The 123rd Rose Parade presented by Honda and themed Just Imagine…, will take place on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, at 8 a.m. (CST) and will feature majestic floral floats, high-stepping equestrian units and spirited marching bands. Following the parade, the 98th Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO will kick off at 2:10 p.m. and feature an exciting match-up between two of the nation’s top collegiate football teams.
For more information about LifeGift visit, www.lifegift.org. For more information about Cytonet, visit www.cytonetllc.com.
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About LifeGift
LifeGift is a not-for-profit organ procurement organization dedicated to recovering organs and tissue for individuals needing transplants in 109 Texas counties in North Texas, Southeast Texas and West Texas. For more information, go to www.lifegift.org or 1-800-633-6562.
About Cytonet
Cytonet is an internationally active biotechnology company which is located in Weinheim and Heidelberg in Germany and in Durham, NC in the U.S. The company develops, produces and markets cell therapeutic products. Cytonet’s goal is to provide alternatives to existing therapies for many diseases with a particular emphasis on liver diseases. Cytonet is a pioneer and leader in the field of regenerative medicine. For the past several years, Cytonet has worked with internationally-leading metabolism and neonatal centers to study its liver cell therapy, which uses healthy and metabolically functional human liver cells collected from donated livers not suitable for transplant for infusion to treat urea cycle disorders in children. For more information, please visit Cytonet’s website at www.cytonetllc.com.
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses and Donate Life Rose Parade Float
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses is a volunteer organization that annually hosts the Rose Parade® presented by Honda, Rose Bowl Game® presented by VIZIO and various associated events. The 123rd Rose Parade presented by Honda and themed Just Imagine…, will take place on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, at 8 a.m. (PST) featuring majestic floral floats, high-stepping equestrian units and spirited marching bands. Following the parade, the 98th Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO will kick off at 2:10 p.m. and feature an exciting match-up between two of the top collegiate football teams in the nation. For additional information on the Tournament of Roses please visit the official website at www.tournamentofroses.com.
For more information about the Donate Life Rose Parade Float, visit the official float website at www.donatelifefloat.org.
