For Kathleen Fleming, the issue of organ donation is a family matter.
“I have a brother and a niece who have received a new set of lungs, a niece who has received a kidney, a great-niece who has donated a kidney and I have donated bone marrow,” Fleming says. “You can see why this issue would be near and dear to me.”
It’s so near and dear to her that she is coming to Burnaby to raise awareness of the importance of organ donations.
The B.C. section of the Canadian Transplant Association is hosting the Transplant Trot, a walk/run event in Burnaby on April 28 in Central Park.
This “trot” – five kilometres or one kilometres for kids and families – takes place on a significant date as it is the final day of National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week.
“We think it is a perfect way to close out this week which focuses on the miracle of organ and tissue donation,” Fleming says.
The CTA is a registered, charitable organization, comprised of transplant recipients, athletes, health-care professionals, supporters and volunteers “dedicated to promoting healthy, post-transplant living and the benefits of organ and tissue donation,” Fleming says. “These benefits accrue not only to the recipients but to their families and their communities. They achieve this mandate through public advocacy, educational programs and awareness events such as the Transplant Trot.”
For more information on taking part in the event, visit the site’s website at www.transplanttrot.ca/vancouver.
