Chuck Kelley interviewed Judy Gierlach and Laura Nashburn who are both committee members for the URMC Rochester River Run.
-Judy explained the history of the event and said it was started to raise money to support patients and their families that are waiting and undergoing an organ transplant at Strong Memorial Hospital.
-Judy said that April is Donate Life Month and that is why they do this event in April.
-Judy said that there are 500 people in Rochester awaiting a transplant.
-Many people from the surrounding area come to Strong Memorial Hospital for transplants and many times they are very sick.
-All the proceeds from the River Run go to help them pay for expenses that insurance doesn’t cover like travel, food, extra medication.
-They talked about the shortage of registered organ donors, so in addition to raising money this event is a way to raise awareness, educate and encourage more people to sign up to be an organ donor.
-Judy also works with the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network. She encouraged everyone to sign up to become a donor when they get a new driver’s license or by going to passlifeon.org
-Laura is a liver transplant recipient, she was just 19 when she had her surgery and transplant.
-She said that she was born with some health issues and was very sick before the transplant. She talks about her personal journey of going through the medical process, meeting other transplant patients and how grateful she is for a second chance to live her life.
-Laura talked about the stress on her family when she was waiting for an organ transplant and how she got to know another one of the transplant patients who gave her hope.
-While she was waiting on the transplant list her father started to run in the Rochester River Run. After her surgery she got involved with the event and continues to support it every year.