Midwest Transplant Network helps hundreds give the gift of life
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – I.C. Collins remembers 2022 as a year of trials and transplants.
“They called and said, ‘Here’s the deal, you’re gonna lose your sight if you don’t have this surgery,'” Collins recalled.
An eye infection that festered for months, needing a cornea transplant, was only the beginning.
“I found out that I was in congestive heart failure at the same time,” he said.
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Collins needed a new heart.
“You just kind of come to grips with yourself that you may or may not make it,” he said.
In September 2022, he was placed on the heart transplant list. After 20 days, Collins got the call.
“So many things that I would have missed if it wasn’t for the gift I was given,” he said. “I’m ecstatic about it. I get the chance to be the dad I always wanted to be and be there for them.”
Each gift of life is met with grief.
“We lost our son. We go through so many emotions every single day. We still do five years later,” explained Joe Rodriguez.
In 2019, Joe Rodriguez and Lisa Mendoza-Rodriguez’son, Zach, died unexpectedly at 25.
He was a registered organ donor. Through the “Midwest Transplant Network,” his organs saved four lives.
“I believe he’s so proud and so happy. I feel that he knows each person and their family,” said Lisa Mendoza-Rodriguez, Zach’s mom.
The nonprofit works with organ donors and their families to give the gift of life. Nearly 500 Kansans are currently on a transplant waitlist.
“You just never know when that time will come when it can be one of your loved ones that is in need of that, that transplant, that gift of life,” Joe Rodriguez said.
The donations offer healing to everyone affected.
“You look for things, and you find things that can help you in the healing process,” Zach’s dad said. “This is one of those. Just knowing that he’s made a difference in the lives of others with the gift of life.”
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“I look at it as a pure blessing in life. I thank my donor every day,” Collins said.
In 2023, the Midwest Transplant Network worked with 363 donors to transplant 988 organs. You can register to be an organ donor at the DMV or by clicking here.
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