Tony Kouskolekas, President of Pelham Medical Center in Greer, contributed a handwritten dedication in honor of organ and tissue donors on the 2016 Donate Life float at Friday's Rose Parade.
Tony Kouskolekas, President of Pelham Medical Center in Greer and SRHS leaders Anita Butler and Paul Newhouse participated in the Donate Life Rose Parade Float CEO Rose Dedication Program. The program provides hospital leaders the opportunity to leave a handwritten dedication in honor of organ and tissue donors on the 2016 Donate Life float.
The parade will be televised locally at 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on WYFF (channel 4).
Update: Donate Life’s “Treasure Life’s Journey” float won the Isabella Coleman award for best presentation of color and color harmony through floral use.
Donate Life South Carolina’s mission is to increase the supply of organs and tissues for transplantation and provide assistance for South Carolina transplant recipients.
Donate Life helps support and educate families at an emotionally devastating time, so they are better able to make well-informed decisions about organ and tissue donation.
Organ and tissue donation is the process of recovering organs and tissues from a deceased person and transplanting them into others in order to save or enhance the lives of those in need. Up to eight lives can be saved through organ donation from just one donor, and another 50 lives may be improved through tissue donation.
There are more than 1,000 people in South Carolina, and more than 108,000 in the U.S. on waiting lists for a donated organ. Each year, approximately 6,000 people die waiting for an organ transplant that would have given them a second chance at life.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of people benefit each year from donated tissue that is used for lifesaving purposes. The most commonly transplanted organs are the kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, pancreas and small intestines.
More information on how to become a donor is available here.