April Is National Donate Life Month

 

As the title says, April is NAtional Donate Life Month.

This month is dedicated to honoring those who have chosen to be organ donors and the lives they have saved.

Donate Life is an organization that helps to dispel myths surrounding organ transplants and educate the public about the importance of becoming an organ donor. You can find out more about them at http://www.donatelife.net

I want to share a little story with you-

Cory was a loving brother, devoted father and proud grandfather. Cory loved to go fishing and was always the joker. On August 8, 2008, Cory , at the age of 44, died of a brain aneurysm.

A few states away lay a young woman in the hospital. She was 30 years old, a wife and mother. She was also dying. An acute liver failure had put her in a week-long coma, unaware that her life was slowly slipping away. The doctors had only hours left to find a suitable liver that could save her life. Two previously offered livers were not a good match. With only a handful of hours left before the high toxin levels in her body would render her brain dead, a liver was found. The transplant was a success!

That liver donor was Cory and the young woman’s life he saved was mine.

To honor my organ donor, Cory, I have made a pair of socks for him.

For the entire month of April all profits made from the sale of the sock pattern will go to Donate Life. If it was not for Cory’s decision to be an organ donor, I would not be here today. Everyday, I am thankful for the selfless act of Cory and all those who have chosen to be organ donors. Thank you!

Cory's Socks

If you would like to purchase the pattern you can click on the link here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/corys-socks

Liver Socks

There is this website call Ravelry.com. It is like Facebook for yarnies. Everyone who’s anyone that knits or crochets is there. On this site is a group that I chat with regarding the upcoming Sock Summit. Yes, you read that right. There is actually a summit where people talk about, teach, read, knit, and buy stuff dealing with the sacred and beloved knitted socks. (Unless you’ve been blessed enough to have wrapped your feet in a pair of hand knitted socks you wouldn’t understand.)

Anyway, in this group I’ve chatted with a couple of ladies who also had organ transplants. We’ve been joking around about  going to the Sock Summit wearing some cool t-shirts that would identify us as the transplant posse. It’s a cute idea and one that recently got me thinking- how cool would it be to come up with some socks  in support of organ transplant?

I’m still just toying with the idea, but I do think it would be neat to show up to the summit wearing some tricked out socks that really showed my organ transplant pride. What do you think?

So, if God be willing and the creek don’t rise, I plan on attending the sock summit next year. If you plan to be there come and find me and maybe we can chat over a nice ball of cashmere yarn. I’ll most likely be the one wearing the “ I *heart* my liver”, t-shirt and some funky socks to match. I should be easy to spot.

PS- if I do end up knitting the socks, I promise to post some pics.