Message from COTA President Rick Lofgren

Dear Friend,

Each year, on the second Sunday in May, the majority of our nation pauses to celebrate “Mother’s Day”. It is likely one of the most ‘universally’ acknowledged holidays that we share across various cultures and traditions. Mother’s Day marks the perfect time of the year to acknowledge our contributors -- many of them mothers -- and to celebrate mothers who are traveling the difficult, and often heartbreaking, road through the transplant process, helping their child who needs a second chance at life. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) celebrates mothers -- they are caregivers, cheerleaders, nurses, playmates, teachers and drill sergeants for their children. Without mothers, COTA could not have helped more than 1,300 families over the past two decades.

Giving Hope … Making Miracles. May is the perfect month to tell you that your ongoing support of our patients, and our work, is literally life-saving for our families. Let me introduce you to a very special COTA mom, Julie Resk, who donated a portion of her liver to her daughter, Hayley … a teenager who was desperately waiting for a miracle. Recently, Julie shared with us:

“A miracle is an amazing or wonderful occurrence, and I think Hayley felt that when she was waking up -- about 24 hours after our transplant surgery. We will be forever grateful to COTA for this. The thought of the transplant was overwhelming emotionally for us, but having to worry about the expense of the surgery -- a surgery that will save your child’s life -- is not a place any family wants to be in. COTA allowed us to put ALL of our energy and focus into our child getting better.”

Julie Resk, Hayley’s Mother and Living Donor

As I look to the future these words are even more touching knowing Hayley and Julie have many years of Mother’s Days to celebrate together. COTA is committed to making this journey with each of our families -- families who desperately need hope … and who sometimes receive a miracle.

Thanks for choosing to make the journey with us and with teenagers, like Hayley. And I am pleased to announce COTA has a new E-newsletter partner who is making the journey with us, and who will hopefully ease the stress of the journey for our COTA families.

In the next year, you will be seeing more about COTA’s new E-newsletter partner, The Transplant Experience. This program, sponsored by Astellas Pharma, guides, supports and motivates recipients through each phase of the transplant journey -- pre-transplant to the first year post-transplant to beyond. COTA families can register for the Transplant Experience at www.TransplantExperience.com.

We welcome Transplant Experience to the COTA family … and we thank the many mothers out there who help us give hope and make miracles to so many families!

Rick Lofgren, President
Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA)

-Top-