(Spirit Lake)– A north central Iowa woman will be bringing her message about the importance of organ and tissue donation to the Iowa Great Lakes next week. Liz Markert of Manson tells KUOO news her daughter Emily was diagnosed in 1999 with a virus that attacked her lungs…
“Within five to six years of 1999 Emily received a living lobar transplant where she received a lobe from two separate people which were my brothers, which was pretty amazing that this could be done, however we had to go out to California to have that done. And then unfortunately five years later her body rejected the lobes and she was put on a list in Iowa for a lung transplant. However, a year and-a-half had passed and she was becoming very frail and hadn’t received the call yet for the lifesaving transplant, so again we moved out to California and within five weeks of her being out there we received that call. It was a pretty amazing call, and we headed to the hospital and she received a double lung transplant.”
Liz tells us unfortunately that not too long after that Emily developed cancer and passed away in August of 2014. Liz says she has been honoring the legacy of her daughter by holding a 5K run and walk in her honor and by recognizing organ donor and recipients. She says she has now decided to take her message to each of Iowa’s 99 counties. Markert says if there’s one message she wants to relay it would be this:…
“Tissue donation can enhance the lives of up to 300 people because tissue includes the bones, the valves, the tendons, and then of course the eyes to restore sight. So perhaps those that are older, they could think more about the tissue and eye donations because it’s the gift of life and it’s so important to understand that, too.”
Markert will be putting on a presentation for the public this coming Wednesday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am at the Dickinson County Treasurer’s Office at the courthouse in Spirit Lake…
“I bring my table which shares Emily’s story along with a platter full of green ribbon cookies that are quite delicious. That’s what Emily liked to do. When she was at work and she was going to give a presentation, that type of thing, on organ donor awareness, she always made green ribbon cookies. I try and mimic that and then I share Emily’s story with those that are coming into the DMV that day to renew their driver’s license. That’s a very important day for them where they’re going to be asked do you want to be an organ donor? And checking that box. My goal is to be able to explain that those who don’t quite understand organ, eye and tissue donation.”
