Thank you so much for reminding us that April is National Donate Life Month (Our Opinion, April 20). It was actually 13 years ago in April that I received the call that changed my life.
A kidney had become available for me. It was a week before my birthday, and that was the greatest gift I ever could have received. After three years on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) list and a year and a half on dialysis, the generosity of some family I didn’t even know gave me a second chance at a normal life. It gave me a chance to see my grandchildren being born and growing up. It gave me a chance to enjoy the wonderful environment and people here in South Florida.
I will be forever grateful to that family who allowed their tragic loss to be turned into new lives for myself and probably up to seven other people in need of organs! So to you who have signed organ donor cards, I say thank you on behalf of those who will someday benefit from your generosity. And to those who have not yet done so, I ask you to consider making a choice that could possibly change many future lives.
Arlene Olinsky, Royal Palm Beach
