Rita Whitworth – Liver Transplant Recipient

A few years ago I was diagnosed with a disease called Hemochromatosis, a blood disease that causes your body to have too much iron.  As a result of the disease I developed cirrhosis of the liver and would need a liver transplant to survive.  I was placed on the national waiting list for a life-saving transplant, but my doctors warned me that finding a compatible donor liver could take months, years, or may not come in time to save my life.

I prepared for the wait of my life.  Fortunately, I did not have to wait long.  A donor liver was found and I received the transplant that would save my life.  Thanks to some wonderful, giving person who signed the back of their driver’s license to become a donor, I now live a pretty normal life.

I don’t know who my donor was, but everyday I pray for their soul and for their family who carried out their wishes to be an organ donor. 

I encourage everyone to join the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry when you renew your driver’s license.  You don’t know whose life you may save.