Thanks to others, she's a survivor

I've become friends with Dana Trude since we connected prior to her transplant and her positive attitude and desire to live made a great impression on me. Now that she's had her heart and double-lung transplant, she continues to set an example for us all, even in the face of setbacks such as rejection. She attended a recent Trillium Gift of Life Network volunteer session and is anxious to promote organ donation awareness. In this article Dana urges people to consider donating their organs after death. "You can live the rest of your life knowing you can save somebody's life."

ANNE KELLY, THE RECORD

KITCHENER, Ontario - Apr 13, 2007

Dana Trude had no idea she was dying. The same day she was called to Toronto General Hospital to receive a new heart and lungs, the 45-year-old Kitchener mother worked a full day in her job as an administrative support person at K-W Habilitation Services.

"I felt great," Trude recalls, while recovering at home from the rare procedure done Dec. 12.

So the petite organ recipient was shocked to hear recently from a psychiatric nurse at the hospital, that her life was slipping away before her transplant.

"It was devastating. I had no clue I was actually dying," she says. "I didn't realize, I guess, that I was always gasping for air. ''

Trude was one of just four people who received a double lung and heart transplant in 2006 at Toronto General.

The hospital, which performed the first heart-lung transplant in Canada in 1985, is the only transplant centre in Ontario that does the surgery.

Read the full article.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Click Here to Obtain a Donor Card