Donating Organs, Looking Back after a Year
February 9th, 2023 by Joe Burgess
Just one day before tragedy struck, Monticello resident 19-year-old Rebekah Reynolds called her mother and best friend Regina Henthorne to share the news that she was planning to enroll in cosmetology school to pursue her dreams of becoming a hair and makeup artist. On June 24, 2021, Reynolds was a victim of domestic gun violence. On June 28, Reynolds passed away–donating her liver, kidneys, and heart valves to save five lives. Her eyes and tissue were also able to be recovered for life-enhancing transplants.
“She lived big dreams and she was determined to make those dreams come true,” Henthorne said. “Five people wouldn’t be alive without my daughter’s donation.” One organ donor can save up to eight lives, as there are eight transplantable organs. And one tissue donor can impact 100 or more lives by helping to restore mobility, ability and freedom from pain.
“Registering to become a donor is simple, and it’s the gift of a lifetime,” said Mark Tudor, president and chief executive officer of ARORA, the nonprofit responsible for recovering organs and tissues for life-saving transplants in Arkansas. “It gives hope to the more than 100,000 Americans, including more than 300 Arkansans, who are waiting on life-saving transplants.”
Arkansans can register to become an organ and tissue donor when renewing their driver’s license at their local DMV office. However, a trip to the DMV doesn’t happen every day, so ARORA offers two other convenient registration options. Arkansans can log onto https://www.arora.org/donatelife/ to register online. Or, they can log onto the ARORA website at www.arora.org/kiosk to locate a donor registration kiosk where they can also register in a matter of seconds.
Choose another article
Newer article: Farm Bureau Week, Help Us Help Hope Place Monticello
Older article: WJ Excavating & Trucking
