Lifesharing Announces 2022 Nurse of the Year

Jaclyn (“Jackie”) Russe is Lifesharing’s “Nurse of the Year” and UC San Diego Health’s Nurse Consultant award winner. The accolades were announced during Nurses Week, which runs from May 6 – 12, 2022. In her position as a Lifesharing organ procurement coordinator, Jackie travels to hospitals throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties. When a patient’s life cannot be saved, it’s Jackie’s job to try and save their organs. She uses her critical care skills to keep organs viable for transplant, while she searches for the best recipient match on the transplant waiting list. Jackie has saved countless lives by finding new homes for donated organs such as hearts, lungs, kidneys and livers. Jackie builds strong bonds with the families of our organ donor heroes — and she works tirelessly to ensure their loved ones live on through donation. Every year, Jackie honors our donors during Día de los Muertos.

Donate Life Float named “Most Extraordinary” in the Rose Parade

A float honoring organ and tissue donors has won the Extraordinaire Award from the Tournament of Roses. Lifesharing was a proud sponsor of the 2022 Donate Life Rose Parade Float, which was recognized as the parade’s most extraordinary entry. The float featured the floral portraits of 35 organ and tissue donors, including Robert (“Robby”) Barksdale, Jr.    Barksdale was a San Diego sailor who saved five lives when Lifesharing carried out his organ donation in 2018. Several of the sailor’s family members made the journey to Pasadena to cheer the float as it carried his image down Colorado Boulevard. This year’s float was called “Courage to Hope,” and its design was inspired by the majestic winged lion of St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy. The float celebrated the courage of organ donors and their families.

Lifesharing Honors its Organ and Tissue Donors for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) 2021

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. In this photo, Lifesharing organ procurement coordinator Jaclyn Russe, RN, creates a sugar skull in honor of organ donor Sara Michelle Herrera.

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.

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.”

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.”