MVD Spring 2019 Newsletter: Ambassador Spotlight

In 1988, at 37 years old, Thomas Gammill only had six months to live.

“I was stunned,” says Gammill, a father and driving school owner. “I wasn’t ready for that.”

Gammill wanted a second opinion and moved from San Diego to Prescott, Ariz., where he still lives. Nonetheless, he ultimately needed a heart transplant, and his rare B positive blood type would make it challenging to match with a donor.

For 47 months after the bad news, Gammill grew more ill. His church in Prescott had a prayer chain keeping him going. On April 24, 1992, those prayers were finally answered. Gammill received a call there was a heart available.  A 21-year-old donor saved Gammill’s life.

Gammill was out of the hospital in a week, ready to support the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs as a season ticket holder.

The man who saved Gammill’s life registered at a California Department of Motor Vehicles location when he got his license. For this reason, Gammill holds the ambassador program close to his heart.

He is the main point of contact for the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division (ADOT MVD) office in Prescott. He delivers newsletters, supplies Donate Life promotional items, and talks about donation with ADOT MVD team members for “as long as [the program has] been around.”

“The [MVD] employees are the backbone of the ambassador program,” Gammill says. “If I keep donation awareness at the front of their minds, I feel like I’m making a difference.”

From the Heart: Celebrating National Donor Day

Not all heroes wear capes, but Jared Joseph “Bear” Griffith is proof that all of us have the power to save and heal lives through donation.

In the fall of 2017, at just 10 years old, Bear gave the gift of life when his asthma turned fatal. Although he was too young to have registered himself as a donor, a past conversation made it an easy decision for his parents, Corrina and Jared Paul.

“He somehow cared more about everyone else than himself,” says Jared.

A Superhero Gives Back

A poster of Superhero Guidelines hung above Bear’s bed, and he really took them to heart. For example, Bear learned Spanish to help out a classmate who hadn’t learned English yet. His new skills allowed him to help her when she needed.

In his short life, Bear learned giving back was important. He helped others in unique ways, always sharing his generosity with others. Bear was encouraged by his parents, former members of law enforcement.

Through their loss, Bear’s family was inspired when he saved two people with his kidneys and liver, and restored vision for a third person with a double cornea transplant. Doctors recovered Bear’s heart valves for future transplant – which go to pediatric patients roughly 75 percent of the time.

His Legacy Lives On

There were 132 heart valves transplanted in 2018, with three out of four heart valve transplantations saving pediatric patients.

“Bear had an aura, a charisma, a quiet yet powerful confidence about him that attracted young and old alike,” his dad says. “Bear always said and did what he felt was right, and we have learned he affected many more people in amazing ways than we had already known.”

Observed every year on February 14, National Donor Day is dedicated to spreading education about organ, eye and tissue donation, as well as recognizing those who have given the gift of life, just like Bear. It is a day to recognize those who received the gift of life through donation, those who are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant, and those who died waiting because an organ was not donated in time.

A Father and a Fighter: Lifesaver gets a new chance at life

As a Phoenix firefighter, Dave Wipprecht firmly believes in miracles. In 2014, that faith was tested when Wipprecht began having difficulty breathing. Although he was diagnosed with pneumonia, his breathing problems persisted so he checked into Banner Thunderbird Medical Center.

An echocardiogram revealed that his heart was four times its normal size. Wipprecht was given heart medication, but shortly afterward his leg began to hurt. Doctors found blood clots throughout his body, due to his heart only functioning at 10 percent.

Rushed into emergency surgery and then transferred to Mayo Clinic Hospital, Wipprecht was placed at the top of the waiting list for a new heart.

Journey of Faith

Throughout his three-and-a-half month stay at Mayo Clinic Hospital, hooked up to IVs and taking medication daily, Wipprecht maintained an optimistic attitude for his wife and three young sons.

In June 2015, his doctor told Wipprecht that they had exhausted all their options and predicted he only had nine days to live. Still, Wipprecht’s positivity never wavered. He continued to show strength and bravery, even amidst adversity, as any proud father would.

“I knew I’d get through this, knowing that I had to stay alive for my family,” Wipprecht says.

His faith was rewarded when, six days later, he received news that a new heart was available. Wipprecht says that he woke up smiling after the successful surgery.

“I could breathe normally,” Wipprecht says. “I felt new again.”

The Gift of New Life

Back at home just nine days later, Wipprecht took care of his new heart. After celebrating his two-year transplant anniversary, Wipprecht wrote a letter to his donor’s family and hopes to meet them someday.

Even before his transplant experience, Wipprecht had always been a registered donor. Now donation has even more meaning. At the fire department, he and his fellow firefighters always did everything they could to save someone’s life. On the sad occasion when that person might not make it, their efforts could still help save someone else’s life through donation. Wipprecht proudly displays a Donate Life license plate and shares his story with others.

“I would encourage others to stay positive and tell them there’s a reason for everything,” says Wipprecht. “And if it’s my time to go, then it’s my time to help others.”

Thanks to the generosity of others, Wipprecht can continue to be a father and a fighter, and for that he is forever grateful.

View this article at  dnaz.org