About Us:

Lifesharing is one of 58 regional non-profits dedicated to the life-saving and life-enhancing benefits of organ and tissue donation. Lifesharing provides organ recovery, donor family support, and educational services for the diverse population of approximately 3 million people in San Diego and Imperial Counties. Organ and tissue procurement services supply 28 donor hospitals and four local transplant centers with transplantable organs for the ever-growing waiting list of nearly 2,200 San Diego patients and more than 123,000 patients nationwide.

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COVID-19 UPDATE: Lifesharing continues to save lives through organ and tissue donation. We are taking every precaution to protect the health of our families, team members and transplant recipients. Please read an important message from Executive Director Lisa Stocks.

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inezbutterflyhq Saving Lives Through Organ and Tissue Donation Saving Lives Through Organ and Tissue Donation

Lifesharing Announces 2021 Rose Parade Honoree

Lifesharing is proud to announce that organ donor hero Leia Parker will represent us on the 2021 Donate Life Tribute to the Rose Parade – a floral display titled, “Community of Life.” Leia, who was named after Princess Leia in Star Wars, saved three lives when she passed away at the age of two. (Lifesharing found matching recipients for her heart, liver and kidneys. Leia’s corneas were also transplanted, giving sight to two women.) Leia was a happy and bright little girl who loved mermaids and unicorns. Like her namesake, little Leia was fearless – she ruled the Parker home with joyous laughter and sassiness. Watch video

“Community of Life” is the only floral sculpture that will be displayed on the lawn of the Tournament of Roses House in Pasadena in 2021. It features the floral portraits of 21 organ donors from across the country, including San Diego’s Leia Parker. The floragraphs will be displayed in a giant honeycomb, surrounded by floral honeybees. The design carries an important message — like bees, we are stronger when we work together. On November 17, 2020, Tihani Parker (Leia’s mother) put the finishing touches on her daughter’s floral portrait at Lifesharing.

Watch media coverage here:
10News Video
CBS 8 Video

Lifesharing Honors its Organ and Tissue Donors for Día de los Muertos
(Day of the Dead) 2020

Every year, Lifesharing creates a beautiful ofrenda (altar) to honor its recent heroes. Celebrated on November 1 and 2, Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday where it’s believed that the spirits of our deceased loved ones return to earth.

Lifesharing team members spend hours creating traditional sugar skulls for each donor — personalizing them in unique and beautiful ways: Watch video here.

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Lifesharing’s First Ever “Digital Day of Remembrance”

Lifesharing traditionally holds an annual memorial ceremony to honor its recent organ and tissue donors. This year however, COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the event due to the ban on mass gatherings. Still determined to honor our heroes, we instead created a film to honor our donors. It was officially released on October 23, 2020: Watch video here.

Art was not her only gift to the world

San Diegan Claire Tipler was an expressive visual artist who loved painting, photography and dance. When she passed away at the age of 21, she saved 3 adults and one child through organ donation. (Lifesharing found matching recipients for her heart, liver and kidneys.) Over the summer of 2020, Claire’s mother organized an art project in memory of her daughter and our team was humbled to take part. In this video produced by Lifesharing, Claire’s parents describe her passion for art and adventure and how organ donation helped them find meaning in the wake of their daughter’s death. In a second video for Lifesharing, Claire’s mother describes the organ donation process step-by-step, calling it “a sacred process.” Watch video here.

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National Donate Life MonthNew National Observance for Organ and Tissue Donors

 

The end of Donate Life Month marked the beginning of a new tradition — Donor Remembrance Day.   With all public gatherings canceled because of COVID-19, Donor Remembrance Day was a digital-only event which spread across the internet on April 30th, 2020.   Donor families and transplant recipients were encouraged to harness the power of social media to pay tribute to those who gave gift of life.   Lifesharing released a Donor Remembrance Day video which celebrated San Diego heroes, while the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) created a “Remembrance Garden” to honor donors from across the country.

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Heart Recipient Invites Organ Donor’s Family to His Wedding

 

In the late 1990s, Chris Truxaw collapsed at school. A firefighter approached Christopher’s mother with tears in his eyes, as he explained that her son’s heart had stopped. Chris was eventually placed on the waiting list for a new heart at the tender age of 13. Without a transplant, doctors gave him only six months to live. Chris was getting weaker by the day — he was confined to a wheelchair and his skin was blue from a lack of oxygen.

And then, his family got the call — a matching heart had been found. The 10-year-old organ donor hero did what no doctor could do…. he saved Christopher’s life. A few years later, Chris honored his donor by competing in the 2002 Transplant Games. In a speech, he told the crowd: “He [the heart donor] freed me from my cell… I rose from the dead, able to rejoin humanity.”

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