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Second chances

Three Lawrence families share one common bond – they encourage others to be organ and tissue donors. This 3-part series explores the life-changing nature of organ donations.

Aiden Blomgren, 6, left, and his brother, Miles, 9, play a game of Battleship Jan. 16 at their Lawrence home. In the background are the boys’ parents, Jill and Dan Blomgren. Aiden and Miles both had liver transplants at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Miles had his transplant at age 2 and Aiden at age 3. Read story

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Lawrence residents Jill and Dan Blomgren have watched not one, but two of their children undergo liver transplant surgeries. In their own words, the Blomgrens explain how the experience has changed their outlook on organ donation.

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In this file photo from September 2000, Dan and Jill Blomgren read “Where the Wild Things Are” to their 2-year-old son, Miles. Miles had a rare liver disease and was awaiting a liver transplant. He received part of his father’s liver in a successful November 2000 transplant operation.

Miles and Aiden Blomgren

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Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 18-months-old, Heidi Karn Barker received a double-lung transplant on Jan. 4, 2008.

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Heidi Karn Barker, 24, Lawrence, and her mother, Tracie Karn, McLouth, visit Jan. 28 at their apartment in St. Louis. Heidi, who has cystic fibrosis, had a double lung transplant Jan. 4 across the street from the apartment at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. She will live in St. Louis at least another two months for rehabilitation.

Heidi Karn Barker

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Sixteen-month-old Addison Whitenight has been on a liver transplant list since May 2007. Her mother Shawna Davis talks about her daughter.

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Shawna Davis, Lawrence, holds her daughter, Addison Whitenight, while Addison has blood drawn during a checkup at Lawrence Family Practice Center, 4951 W. 18th St. Addison has biliary atresia and has been on a liver transplant list since May.

Addison Whitenight

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Document
Awaiting their second chance
Document
Liver Transplantation: An inside look

Aiden and Mile's Story

Boys bounce back after liver transplants
Nine-year-old participates in ground-breaking study
By Karrey Britt, February 15, 2008
Six-year-old Aiden Blomgren and his brother, Miles, 9, play with their new puppy, Coco, a brown miniature Labradoodle. The boys giggle as they chase each other. They don’t remember a time when they couldn’t run around. But their parents do.

Heidi's Story

Breathing easier after transplant
24-year-old tackles lifelong illness with determination
By Karrey Britt, February 14, 2008
Donning a Green Bay Packers sweatshirt, blue sweatpants and pale pink house boots, 24-year-old Heidi Karn Barker sits in a quiet, one-bedroom apartment across from Barnes-Jewish Hospital where three weeks earlier she had a double lung transplant.

Addison's Story

Addison awaits transplant, better life
16-month-old Lawrence resident suffering from rare liver disorder
By Karrey Britt, February 13, 2008
Ring. Ring. Ring. A hopeful mother smiles and her eyes light up behind her glasses. “This could be it,” she said as she gets up to answer the phone. Nope. It’s just a telemarketer. And so the long wait continues for Shawna Davis and Jeffrey Whitenight. They are awaiting a call from Children’s Mercy Hospital, where they hope their 16-month-old daughter, Addison, will have a liver transplant. She’s been on the transplant list since May 29.
Transplant recipient completes ascent
June 29, 2008
A heart transplant survivor has added another first to her long string of mountaineering feats since getting a new heart 13 years ago — a dangerous 2 1/2-day climb up the sheer, 2,000-foot face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park’s famed granite monolith.
6News video: Local concert benefits Addison Whitenight
May 30, 2008
Every parent will agree that children are a lot of work, but well worth it with each laugh and smile. That has never been more true than for Jeffrey Whitenight and Shawna Davis.
Woman donates kidney to teacher
Associated Press
May 10, 2008
Twenty-two years after graduating from high school, Angie Collins is now her former English teacher’s favorite student.
Gift of life
Lawrence families grateful for organ donors
April 27, 2008
She’s a little warrior. At 18 months old, Addison Whitenight continues to fight for her life. The blue-eyed, red-haired Lawrence girl was diagnosed with biliary atresia at age 6 weeks. Her liver doesn’t work and she’s been waiting for a new one since last May.
Medical marijuana patients face transplant hurdles
By Gene Johnson - Associated Press Writer
April 27, 2008
Timothy Garon’s face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant. His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.
A third of patients on transplant list not eligible
By Rob Stein - The Washington Post
March 22, 2008
The list of patients waiting for organ transplants, which is widely used to promote organ donations, includes thousands who are ineligible for the operations, according to statistics kept by the national network that manages the allocation of organs.
A pound of flesh can buy a lifetime
By Jeffrey Fleishman and Noha el-Hennawy - Los Angeles Times
March 16, 2008
He sits quietly at the corner cafe, a gold watch on his wrist. If you need a liver or want to sell a piece of yours, grab a chair and get acquainted with Mustafa Hamed, a 24-year-old ex-bus driver who fell unexpectedly into a life as a broker in human organs.
6News video: Second Chances: The Blomgren family
By Janet Reid
February 15, 2008
One Lawrence family is living proof of the benefits of organ donation. 6News reporter Janet Reid joins us now with more in tonight's installment of “Second Chances.”
Talk to family about organ donation
By Karrey Britt
February 15, 2008
While ORGAN DONOR may be printed in red on your driver’s license beside a red heart, it doesn’t determine whether your organs are donated if a match is found. It’s not even whether you have signed the back of the license or signed up on a donor registry. In Kansas, your family’s words trump those intentions.
6News video: Second Chances: New lungs mean new life
By Karrey Britt
February 14, 2008
A 24-year-old Lawrence woman is recovering from a double lung transplant in Saint Louis. In the second story in our three-part series highlighting the importance of organ donation, 6News reporter Karrey Britt follows Heidi Karn Barker through the transplant process.
6News video: Second Chances: Addison’s story
February 13, 2008
Life is a waiting game for one Lawrence family wondering every day if they'll get the call that will save their 16-month-old daughter's life. Over the next few nights we'll introduce you to three Lawrence families with one common bond: they all know firsthand the importance of organ donation. We start tonight with Addison's story.
Thousands await new organs; how the system works
By Karrey Britt
February 13, 2008
Every day, an average of 17 people die because of a lack of available organs for transplant. As of Feb. 8, there were 105,102 people across the nation waiting for organ transplants. Of those, 373 were from Kansas. “There is a much lower rate of organ donation in the U.S. compared to other countries,” said Dr. Ramsey Hachem, pulmonologist at Barnes Jewish Hospital, a world-renowned transplant center in St. Louis. To become a donor, it’s essential to notify your family.
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