Local organ donor recipient hopes to inspire others on ‘WV Donor Day’

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Aug. 1 doesn’t just mark the month many go back to school, but in West Virginia, it’s the fifth annual “WV Donor Day,” held because eight people can be saved by one organ donor, according to the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) and Donate Life WV.

For Navy veteran and Gold Star widow, Chasity Wilson, she remains grateful to the deceased donor who gave her a second chance at life, on May 11, 2023.

“There was a very slim chance, actually like six to eight percent that I would ever find a donor,” said Wilson. She told 12 News that she had loved ones who tested and dozens who were ready to donate, but were not a match.

On May 10, 2023, Wilson received the news she finally got a match for a kidney that had eluded her for the three years that she was on the transplant waiting list. “I wasn’t very hopeful, I stayed hopeful for my children, but I wasn’t hopeful that I would find a donor,” said Wilson.

Wilson was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease at 22 years old, which was followed by years of being in and out of the hospital for treatments. She went into kidney failure at age 35 and began dialysis three years later.

The mom of three said she had just decided to stop the 18-month dialysis treatment she had received because she was losing hope, but happened to receive the life-changing call the same day. In sharing her story, she hopes to inspire others on the transplant list to not lose hope and for people to register as organ donors themselves.

Four months after her surgery, the former stay-at-home mom decided she wanted to join the community of people who helped her by attending nursing school.

“I’ve never been in the nursing career ever, in my life. I was in the military. I served in the Navy, and I just decided like, after that, a friend of mine, had said, you know she works at a school—At Fayette CTI—and said ‘Why don’t you come and be a student?’ and I was like, ‘nursing?’ And then I really slept on it and I thought, you know what, I can do this, I can really inspire people and help people and make a difference, you know. God gave me a second chance, and I intend to make the best of it,” said Wilson.

More than 100,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for a life-saving transplant with around 500 West Virginians included in that. Despite this CORE says that only 36% of West Virginians are registered organ donors.

CORE officials said there are no age limits to being a donor and all are welcome to be a donor, including those who may struggle with drug use. Officials at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital also debunked the myth that hospitals won’t provide life-saving care if they know a patient is an organ donor.

“That is an absolute myth, all doctors and physicians, their oath is to take care of that patient and to do the best that they can to care for them and bring them back to a better quality of life. And sometimes if patients, you know, are that critically ill that there is no way that they’re going to survive their injuries, then obviously then that’s when they consider becoming an organ donor and approaching the families about organ donation but not prior to initiating any care that is needed,” Transplant Coordinator and Transplant Quality Manager Kimberly Meyer said.

CORE officials said you don’t have to wait to go to the DMV to register as a donor, but you can do so by visiting its website as well.

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