The State Bar Association of North Dakota Winter 2013 Gavel Magazine | Page 2

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

President, SBAND

Gail Hagerty

Are you an organ donor? Can you provide information about donation to your clients? How can your clients make sure their wishes are respected with regard to donation? One of the things I feel most strongly about is organ donation – an opportunity to give the gift of life. As I write this, there are more than 116,000 people waiting for organ donation. Between January and October, 2012, there were 23,363 transplants performed in the United States with 11,659 donors. North Dakotans can designate themselves as organ donors when they become licensed drivers, when they renew their drivers licenses, and when they obtain identification cards through the Department of Transportation. It’s also possible to register as a donor online at the Department of Transportation’s website. I was privileged to serve on a uniform law drafting committee which drafted the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, which was approved as a uniform law in 2006, and adopted by the North Dakota Legislature in 2007 as Chapter 23-06.6 of the North Dakota Century Code. The Act has been adopted in 47 jurisdictions, and is currently being considered by the legislature in Pennsylvania. This 2006 act revised the Uniform Anatomical Gift Acts of 1968 and 1987 in light of changes in federal law and regulation and related developments in the field of organ donation, facilitating the availability of organs for transplantation. While working on enactment in the North Dakota Legislature, I became involved with representatives of LifeSource, the organ procurement organization for Minnesota, North Dakota,

South Dakota, and portions of western Wisconsin. I greatly respected their compassion and professionalism, and was honored to be invited to join their board of directors, on which I currently serve. As much as I like uniform laws, what has kept me committed to the organ donation cause is real people and real stories. Alexa Kersting was a 14-year-old West Fargo girl who died in 2004 while waiting for a double lung transplant. Her parents, Loren and Monica Kersting, have been advocates for organ donation, testifying at the North Dakota legislature and sharing their story to encourage organ donation. North Dakota’s rate of donation – 68 percent of licensed drivers have designated themselves as donors – compares favorably to other states, but I don’t believe you could convince the Kerstings that it’s good enough. When visiting with Senator Ralph Kilzer, one of the sponsors of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act in North Dakota, he said that if there were more organs available, people on the waiting list would be healthier when a transplant was available, and transplantation could be even more successful. North Dakota attorneys are among those impacted by organ donation. Rebecca Thiem’s daughter, Nancy Galligo, would not be alive without the heart and liver transplant she received at the Mayo Clinic more than eight years ago. Her transplant was one of the first 30 heart/ liver transplants in the world. Nancy had no known heart problems growing up in Bismarck, but in her early 20s she suffered complete and sudden heart failure. She was able to live and work for a number of years with a pacemaker, but after her heart went into complete failure again, she was placed on a transplant list at the University of Denver. When it was discovered that her liver was also failing as a result of her poorly functioning heart, she was airlifted to Rochester, Minnesota, where she received her heart and liver after only a day on the transplant list. Nancy has become very involved in the transplant community in Mayo, where she volunteers on a transplant patient advisory board and at the Gift of Life Transplant House. In 1985, after his first year of law school, Gregory Runge, a Bismarck attorney, was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder which

affected the function of both his lungs and liver. He was placed on a liver transplant list in 1999, and after 32 months, he received a double lung transplant. In February 2007, he was diagnosed with end stage liver disease as a result of the genetic disorder and placed on a transplant list for both a liver and kidney, and after many ups and downs, in July of 2008, Greg received both a liver and kidney. Greg has now lived 11 years with his new lungs, and five years with his new liver and kidney. Greg encourages anyone who is not an organ donor to become one. There are others whose lives have been impacted by organ donation. I think often of a father who told me that after his daughter was killed in a traffic accident, he didn’t get his heart back until he met the person who had received her heart. Out of a parent’s deepest heartbreak, there is a beginning of healing through knowledge of the gift of donation. My great hope is that North Dakota attorneys will help spread the word and encourage their clients, their staffs, and their families to become donors. Become familiar with the provisions of the Anatomical Gift Act. When drafting health care directives, include specific provisions concerning maintaining life support to allow for donation. If you want more information about organ and tissue donation, the LifeSource website (http://www.life-source.org) has information, links, and inspiration. From that website: Organ and tissue donation is a gift that saves and heals thousands of lives each year. It’s a gift that relies on the generosity of others - even with the best in medicine and technology, transplantation is not possible without one person giving selflessly to another. The decision to be an organ and tissue donor is a power ?[?K?]YX[??][?H?[??]?H\?
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