Register as a Donor
The Ultimate Christmas Gift
Monday, December 19, 2011
Vital Volunteer Twana Schulz was diagnosed with a very rare disease called pulmonary hypertension in December of 2009.
Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the lungs, which causes the heart to work harder, enlarging it until it goes into heart failure. Doctors told Twana that her only hope for survival would be a double lung transplant. Twana’s prognosis continued to grow darker and the thought of not spending another Christmas with her family seemed like a real possibility.
On Christmas Eve 2010, Twana’s family and her pastor were about to sit down for dinner when Twana received a phone call from The Methodist Hospital. She started to shake and told everyone, “I think this is the call!” Sure enough, she was told to get to the hospital immediately because she was a backup for a lung transplant. Her donor gave her the ultimate Christmas gift – the gift of life. Twana’s family calls it a Christmas miracle.
Twana was one of the fortunate ones. She now gets the opportunity to spend Christmas with her family, healthy and happy. More than 113,000 Americans are not so lucky – they are waiting for the call that will save their life. Of those 113,000, nearly 3,000 are Houstonians. Every day, 18 people die due to organ failure.
This holiday season, remember that life is a gift. Pass it on. Register to be an organ and tissue donor today at www.donatelifetexas.org.
