San Antonio Transplant Recipient to Ride Tournament of Roses Parade Float
Lung Recipient to Represent Donate Life Texas and Dedicate Roses of Appreciation in 2018 Rose Bowl Parade
Donate Life Texas proudly announces Dorothy “Dot” Delarosa of San Antonio as its 2018 delegate to ride on the Donate Life Rose Parade Float. Since receiving a lung transplant at University Hospital in 2010, Delarosa has been an enthusiastic advocate for donation and transplantation as well as Donate Life Texas, the official registry for organ, eye and tissue donors.
On Wednesday, December 20th at 10:15 a.m., Donate Life Texas partners Texas Organ Sharing Alliance and University Health will host a send-off celebration for Delarosa at University Hospital’s Cypress Room located on the First Floor, 4502 Medical Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78229.
During the send-off, patients and staff will have the opportunity to dedicate a rose with a special message of hope and appreciation of the “gift of life” through organ, eye and tissue donation. Delarosa will place these roses on the Donate Life Rose Parade Float just days before the nationally televised parade in Pasadena, Calif. on New Year’s Day.
Delarosa, who received her lung transplant as a result of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, or scarring of the lung, advocates daily for the 11,000 Texans awaiting a life-saving organ transplant. She’s often mentoring patients as a volunteer ambassador with the University Transplant Center — a partnership between University Health and UT Health San Antonio — or sharing her story as a donation advocate with the local organ procurement organization, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA).
Because of her donor, Delarosa has been blessed with a second chance at life and now looks forward to representing Donate Life Texas in the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1, 2018.
“My life has never been the same, I am able to breathe, walk, dance, live!” says Delarosa. “To be a part of the Donate Life Rose Parade Float in honor of my donor’s gift and the countless others who have given is a true honor.”
Celebrating its 15th year, the Donate Life Rose Parade float has become an annual parade tradition. This year’s Rose Parade theme, Making a Difference, is embodied perfectly by the Donate Life Parade Float as a tribute to organ, eye and tissue donors and their unique power to save, heal and transform lives. The float is accompanied each year by donor families, living donors and transplant recipients. It is also decorated with floral portraits, called floragraphs, of donors who have given the ultimate lifesaving gift of organ, eye and tissue donations.
From her seat aboard the Donate Life Rose Parade Float, Delarosa will join other donation advocates to share the message of donation with the world.
“Dot has a unique way of connecting with people from all walks of life, making the most of every opportunity to share the need for donation and the importance of donor registration,” said Suzy Miller, Executive Director of Donate Life Texas. “We hope Dot’s story will inspire others to start the New Year resolved to make a difference by registering to be an organ, eye and tissue donor.”
Donate Life Texas recently became the second largest donor registry in the U.S., topping 10 million registrations. However, the growing need for transplants means more donors are still needed. Every day in the U.S., an average of 20 of the more than 120,000 people waiting for an organ transplant die because the organ they needed did not come available in time.
A single donor can make a difference by impacting the lives of eight people awaiting organ transplants and up to 75 in need of corneal transplants or tissue grafts. Texans can register online at www.DonateLifeTexas.org, or simply by saying yes to donation when applying for or renewing a Texas driver license or vehicle registration.
Resources:
National Donate Life Rose Parade graphics and more information available online here: https://www.donatelifefloat.org/si/
Broadcast-quality video of the Donate Life Rose Parade Float are also available for download.
About the Donate Life America Rose Parade Float
https://www.donatelifefloat.org
The Donate Life Texas organ donor registry started in 2006 and celebrated its 10 millionth registration in November, 2017, making it among the fastest growing registries in the country. The registry is supported by all three Texas organ procurement organizations, LifeGift, Southwest Transplant Alliance and Texas Organ Sharing Alliance and 12 eye and tissue banks serving the state.
Signing up is fast and easy at DonateLifeTexas.org and provides a way for individuals to make their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor known to the right people at the right time, automatically. It also provides legal consent for donation after death, which removes the burden of decision-making from the family during an already difficult time.
Donate Life Texas is part of the Donate Life America not-for-profit alliance of national organizations and local partners across the United States, serving as a national voice and inspiring all people to save and heal lives through organ, eye and tissue donation.
Texas Organ Sharing Alliance is one of 58 federally designated Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) in the United States. Founded in 1975 as a not-for-profit corporation, TOSA covers 56 counties in Central and South Texas. TOSA is committed to providing organ donation and recovery services to families wishing to donate, and to those waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. For more information, visit TOSA1.org.
University Health is a nationally recognized teaching hospital and network of outpatient healthcare centers ranked best in the San Antonio region by U.S. News & World Report for the past seven years. University Health is committed to delivering patient-centered, culturally competent and high-quality healthcare for adults and children, based on a strong foundation of outcomes‐based research and innovative teaching. Learn more at UniversityHealthSystem.com.
