Susan Sanders, right, of Southwick, holds a Donate Life flag with her mom Eleanor Bates at the Southwick Town Hall. Sanders received a heart transplant in 2008. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore).
Southwick woman raises flag, awareness
By HOPE E. TREMBLAY
Staff writer
SOUTHWICK – Four years ago Southwick resident Sue Sanders received a heart transplant, and every day since then, she gives thanks.
“It’s such a blessing,” said Sanders. “Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God.”
Monday night, the Southwick Select Board approved raising a Donate Life flag at Town Hall April 2 to raise awareness for the need for organ donors. Sanders said April is Donate Life Month and she was thrilled the board unanimously approved her request. In addition, the board said Sanders could raise flags in other locations throughout town.
Joining Sanders in her quest is resident Sharon Alexander whose friend was involved in a car accident and donated organs to help save lives.
“Fifty-one people can be affected by one donor’s organs,” said Sanders.
Sanders suffered from a heart condition for many years and was able to manage it with medication, until 2008.
“I just couldn’t control it with medication any longer and I was put on the waiting list for a heart transplant,” Sanders said.
Fortunately, Sanders received a matching heart fairly quickly.
“I was lucky that I only waited seven months,” she said. “It is determined by who is the best candidate, who is the sickest and who is the best match.”
Sanders said she does not know much about her donor.
“I know it came from Manhattan, and I’m a New York girl at heart,” said Sanders, who was born in Yonkers. “For whatever reason, I have always felt like it was a ‘he’ heart.”
Although Sanders knows nothing about her donor, she has written letters to the donor’s family letting them know how much she appreciates what she calls her gift. She has yet to receive a reply from any of the letters she has sent. However, she said she will continue to write them every year.
“It is such a beautiful thing… it is such a gift,” she said.
Sanders said that as an organ recipient, she believes it is her job to give back and raise awareness of the lives that can be saved and enhanced through organ donation.
The flag raising on April 2 will include a brief ceremony with a speaker from the Donate Life organization.
According to donatelife.net, currently more than 110,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants to save their lives. Thousands more are in need of tissue and cornea transplants to restore their mobility and sight.
The site is calling for 20 million donors to register in 2012. For more information, visit donatelife.net.
Hope E. Tremblay can be reached at [email protected]
