Transplant Heroes - Part 2

Today, we're back to the heroes part of this series. I'll salute three very special "Transplant Heroes " - Misty Armour, Janet Jarrard, and Jennifer Griffith. I think it would be very hard, maybe impossible to find anyone in the State of Tennessee who has done more to promote and educate the public about the wonderful, life-saving gift of organ donation than them.

I became acquainted with these ladies in the summer of 2007 about six months after my transplant. I wanted to help spread the word about the miracle of organ donation in order to help others get the same second chance that I got. Misty, Janet, and Jennifer worked in the Public Education Department of Tennessee Donor Services (TDS), the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) for Tennessee, and led a group of dedicated volunteers made up of organ recipients and their family members, donor families, and others who believed in the cause of organ donation. We worked together not like TDS employees and volunteers but like family with one common goal in mind - to put an end to the needless dying of people on the national waiting list due to a shortage of organs. Misty, Janet, and Jennifer poured their hearts and souls into their work because they were driven to try to save lives. They went to work early, stayed late, and worked many weekends to try to make a difference. The other volunteers and myself witnessed it first hand day in and day out. Janet had a personal interest because she was blessed with several extra years with her husband, John, a kidney recipient, because of the life-saving gift of a donor. She knew first hand - it works.

Today, they are on different endeavors. Janet and Jennifer have have started their own businesses and Misty (http://www.myspace.com/mistyarmour) is pursuing her dream of a country music career. I have no doubt that each of them will be successful in whatever they do because they love people, have integrity, and work hard. I'm also certain they will continue to advocate for organ donation no matter what they are doing. In this life, they will never know the numbers of lives they touched, improved, and most importantly saved through their work at TDS. However, Misty, Janet, and Jennifer would probably all agree that even if their work saved only one - it was worth it. And to that I say ...... Amen.

Please visit their businesses :
Janet - http://janetjarrard.myrandf.com/
Jennifer - http://jgriffith.myrandf.com/
Misty - http://mistyarmour.myrandf.com/

Also, in September Misty will be singing at the annual John Jarrard Benefit Concert in Georgia. For more info on that, please visit http://www.johnjarrardconcert.com/.

Tomorrow, I'll cover why these Heroes are on these new endeavours in "Transplant Zeros - Part 2."