BATON ROUGE — September is Registry Awareness Month for Organ Donation, an important part of helping others who need another chance at life and health.
UWK has seen the impacts of organ donation through members of the community coming together to raise awareness, find matches, and ultimately share the gift of life.
Buddy Sparks is someone who knows the value behind organ donation. He received a kidney transplant just a couple weeks ago.
Sparks has struggled with kidney problems for years that stem from his blood pressure. “My blood pressure caused my kidneys to give up.” On top of that, he had to have his right kidney removed. “They took one of my kidneys out because I had a cyst on it.”
Sparks has waited for years to find a kidney donor. He was initially hoping to find one by his 55th birthday in March, and UWK shared his story, hoping to help find a match. Unfortunately, no matches were found before his birthday, but Sparks later shared that a New Roads man saw the original story and wanted to help.
In August, things began to line up and Sparks’ coordinator said they were able to schedule a surgery date, which was this month.
“I was excited. I was nervous. I was just excited to hear it because I was waiting to hear from her, but I just didn’t know when I was going to hear from her,” Sparks said.
Sparks underwent the transplant surgery on Sept. 16. So far, he is doing well with recovery.
Louisiana’s oldest organ donor
UWK recently spoke with the family of George Edward Clement Jr. also known as “Dobe.” He’s the oldest organ donor on record in the state of Louisiana and a resident of Plaquemine. His family sat down on UWK‘s podcast, Louisiana Unfiltered.
According to his family, Clement was a Christian man who was known for his charisma, humor and kindness. He’d served in the Air Force, worked as a teacher and coach, at the post office, and in other capacities. He was involved in multiple roles at his church and in the community, they said.
When he had a stroke and went into the hospital, medical staff told the family he wouldn’t make it. They had him on life support at the time and a LOPA (Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency) representative came to speak with them.
The representative explained that Clement was registered as an organ donor.
“But it made sense. I didn’t know that he was an organ donor, but I think in that moment, the whole family was like, well, of course he is, you know. It’s just something that he would do, you know, and he loved to help someone else.”
The LOPA representative explained the process to the family. Clement was able to donate a kidney at age 81, making him the oldest donor to do so in Louisiana.
LOPA has since shared his story online and at local Office of Motor Vehicle offices to encourage others to consider registering to become an organ donor.
“I often think about the recipient and her family—that although we’re grieving, they’re not having to to grieve, and it’s just such a beautiful thing.”
Listen to their full interview in the podcast: Listen Now.
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