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LEWISTOWN -- More than 400,000 America in every corner of the country are alive today thanks to the tremendous generosity and courage of organ donors. Beth Koontz is one of them.
The Burnham woman, who works as a cardiopulmonary department lab technician at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, received a kidney donation from a friend in 2007.
"When I learned that I needed a kidney transplant I was so scared," Koontz said.
"I had a couple family members that offered to get tested but were not considered good candidates," she added.
Koontz's friend offered to be tested and proved to be a perfect match. "When she found out she was a match, she came to my work and gave me a red jewelry box with a kidney bean in it," Koontz explained.
The match was so close that Koontz's physicians were surprised that the two weren't related. More than a decade later, she's living life to the fullest after a successful surgery.
"The transplant team was wonderful," Koontz shared. "Seventeen years later, the transplant team still treats me as if I had my surgery yesterday."
Promoting awareness about the importance of organ donation, National Donate Life Month is observed every April. The teams at Geisinger held flag-raising events to promote awareness of the importance of organ donation - a topic that is close to Koontz's heart.
Staff, community members and patients took part in ceremonies in Lewistown, Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Geisinger Wyomissing Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre and Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton.
During National Donate Life Month, the donors and their families who have turned pain into purpose by sharing the gift of life with loved ones in need or countless others whom they have never met.
That was the case with Geisinger employee Brian Frey, of Lewistown.
"My mother was an organ donor, donating her liver and both kidneys. She would have been very proud to have helped three people like she wished to do," said Frey, who is an IT team member.
"Although painful for our family to lose her, we also take solace in her ability to touch the lives of others and provide them with years of life," he added.
Frey said, "The staff at Geisinger was very helpful and respectful throughout the entire donation process. The Walk of Life in Danville was a very touching tribute, too."
During the Walk of Life, Frey said the staff at Geisinger lined the halls on the way from his mother's room to the operating room for organ harvesting. "It was very touching to see so many people lining the hallways," he explained. "A very touching tribute to the act of donation."
The Geisinger sign was then illuminated in green as a tribute to the organ donations.
In 2022, American doctors completed the one millionth organ transplant in the United States, a tremendous milestone in this history of a procedure pioneered and honed in America.
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, transplants are now being performed at a record pace, with higher success rates and increased lifespans for recipients. In 2023, more than 46,000 transplants were performed. Still, every eight minutes, someone new joins the waiting list - fighting organ failure or blood cancer - their futures hanging in the balance.
More than 103,000 people, including nearly 2,200 children, are currently on the waiting list. A majority of them are people of color, for whom it can sometimes be more difficult to find a good donor match. Seventeen people die each day waiting for an organ transplant. Every donor can save eight lives and enhance over 75 more.
For more information about organ donation or to become a living donor, visit www.geisinger.org/transplant.