Fresno Family's Tragedy Saves Local Woman's Life

It was an emotional weekend for a Castro Valley young woman after meeting the family of a man whose organs and tissue and were donated to her in 2009, giving her a new lease on life.

For the first time on May 19, 2012, Allie Weese, 24, got to meet the family of Fresno resident Ruben Rodriguez, 36, who had his heart and tissue donated to her almost three years ago.

"It was finally so nice to be able to thank them in person," she said. "It was his last gift and it was a great gift."

Born with restrictive cardiomyopathy — a condition where her heart had trouble relaxing after it contracted — Weese was put on a pace maker at 15 years old. At 21, she was on IV, anxiously waiting for a donar.

"I was one of the lucky ones," she said, adding that she had recently lost a friend at 21 who was unable to get a pair of lungs donated to her in time.

On November 20, 2009, Weiss' second chance at life came when Rodriguez' family donated his organ and tissue to the California Transplant Donor Network (CTDN).

The CTDN is a nation-wide organ and tissue registry working to save and improve lives by facilitating donation for transplantation.

They organized Saturday's event that brought the two families together.

According to Weese, who is a volunteer with CTDN, 114,000 people are registered on the network. A new person is added to the list every 10 minutes. 

She said she immediately felt part of the Rodriguez family and plans to keep in touch with them for years to come.

Anthony Borders, spokesperson for CTDN said this is a prime example of the power organ donars have to save the lives of others. He said nation-wide, about 18 people die each day because they do not receive a donor match.

"In Castro Valley alone, 34 people are waiting for an organ transplant [as of December, 31, 2011]. In the same time last year, just 11 people in Castro Valley received transplants," Borders told Castro Valley Patch.

CTDN encourages people to visit its website at www.ctdn.org and register as a donor or do so when signing up for a State ID or Driver’s License at the DMV.