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Press Release

Houston Virtual 2nd Chance Run: Raising Awareness to Save More Lives

September 3, 2021

Local Family Honors their Son Jordan Who Offered Hope and Life to Others

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted public events, but it hasn’t stopped LifeGift, transplant recipients, donor family members and donation advocates from raising awareness for organ, eye and tissue donation. The Houston 2nd Chance Run is taking place Sunday, September 26th as a virtual run and is being generously sponsored by CareDx, Summus Industries and Andrews Myers.

Donate Life Texas and LifeGift invite you to spend a morning celebrating the gift of life. You can run or walk 1 mile or 3.1 miles (5k) individually, wherever you are. The Donate Life Texas 2nd Chance Run hosted by LifeGift honors organ, eye and tissue donors in 109 Texas counties in North, Southeast and West Texas. While celebrating the lives saved and offering hope to those still waiting, the event raises awareness of the need for organ, eye and tissue donation across the Lone Star state.

Jordan Emerson
Jordan Emerson

A little over two years ago, when 25-year-old Jordan Emerson lost his life due to complications from a snowboarding accident, his family made the decision to donate his organs, eyes and tissue. Monica Emerson, his mother, says they did so in hopes it would provide others with a second chance at life. Jordan saved three lives with his organs’ donation, restored sight through his eye donation and healed countless others through his tissue donation.

“Jordan was a very special and caring individual who wanted to help everyone he could in good times as well as bad,” says Emerson. “His kind heart and selfless act of organ donation have directly helped several families as well as thousands indirectly through specific research programs. He is smiling knowing he made a difference for people.”

The Emerson family has participated in the Donate Life Texas 2nd Chance Run the past two years. The first year, Team Jordan Emerson had 73 participants and was the second largest team. At last year’s virtual 2nd Chance Run, they had the largest team with 120 participants

Registered 2nd Chance Run event participants will receive a commemorative 2nd Chance Run 2021 t-shirt. We also will actively promote our virtual event on social media, sharing photos and comments of support to our donor families, transplant recipients and other members of our LifeGift community.

“In order to continue serving our community in the safest way possible, we decided to host our 7th Annual Donate Life Texas 2nd Chance Run event virtually again this year,” says Kevin Myer, LifeGift president and CEO. “This event makes it possible for us to honor our heroic donors and their courageous families and spread awareness about the significant impact and importance of organ, eye and tissue donation.”

Please visit our Houston 2nd Chance Run website to register and for more event information.

Be sure to join us on LifeGift’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram pages as we honor our donors, recipients and their families as well as educate on the importance of organ and tissue donor registration.

  • What: 7th Annual Donate Life Texas 2nd Chance Virtual Run
  • Who: Transplant recipients, donor family members, healthcare professionals, donation advocates and the entire community are invited to participate
  • When: Sunday, September 26, 2021
  • Website: Houston 2nd Chance Run

For more information and to register, please click here. For sponsorship information, please email Dagmar Climo at climo@lifegift.org.

There are more than 10,000 people in Texas in need of organ, eye or tissue transplants. Register today to become an organ, eye or tissue donor by visiting DonateLifeTexas.org.