The Waiting List

The Waiting List When people care, they act. Stories inspire action. Storytelling empowers a movement for change. Together we will one story at a time.

The Waiting List is a community of storytellers connected by the gift of life. 90% of U.S. adults say they support organ donation, however only 60% are actually signed up as organ donors. The Waiting List's mission is reshape this narrative by increasing awareness, empathy, and online organ donor registration by humanizing the statistics of organ donation through story-driven content.

// “We celebrate life with Xander and his organ donors for living with his heart transplant these last two years. I re...
10/24/2020

// “We celebrate life with Xander and his organ donors for living with his heart transplant these last two years. I reminisce when he was first born and the 200 days we lived in ICU. Especially, Xander’s relentless journey that he has been forced to live but continues to miraculously overcome.
We would not be celebrating together if it weren’t for his heart donor on this special day, September 26, 2018. Extraordinarily, Xander’s heart has remained unblemished with no signs of rejection even after withstanding multiple medications with side effects, incurable liver cancer, chemotherapy drugs, anesthesia, intense surgeries, blood transfusions, fevers, infections and a few unfortunate viruses. I am grateful we have not had any setbacks or worries about this angel child’s heart.
It’s a bittersweet feeling being that I don’t know the families that lost their children and saved mine but because of that, I have shifted my perception on life and people. These families have taught me that deep down we ALL can hold an enormous amount of love and compassion for one another. We share differences but ultimately we can protect each other in the best possible manner.
Like I always promise, I will forever cherish our days and make fun memories to honor of these donor children inside Xander. Thank you to all our family, friends, followers, and strangers who have carried us through our seasons. I can’t believe it’s been two years already.”
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Repost courtesy of . Her son Xander received a on September 26, 2018

“My donor, my hero, my Dad. There is no way to thank him enough for the ultimate gift of his kidney. His sacrifice is tr...
10/13/2020

“My donor, my hero, my Dad. There is no way to thank him enough for the ultimate gift of his kidney. His sacrifice is truly amazing, and I am endlessly grateful for his love, support and selflessness. His precious gift is appreciated and honored every day.”
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Repost courtesy of . Eryn received a living from her dad on April 6, 2016.

“Here she is, my life saver. She was in her early 20s — with hopes of becoming a respiratory technician — when she sudde...
10/12/2020

“Here she is, my life saver. She was in her early 20s — with hopes of becoming a respiratory technician — when she suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. My organ donor, Lucy, went on to save 4 lives after her death. Including mine. Her mom says that her dream was to always save lives, and that’s exactly what she ended up doing.
Thank you to the power of organ donation and thank you, Lucy, for the gift of life. Sign up to become an organ donor by going to RegisterMe.org.”
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Repost . Dr. Alin Gragossian received a on January 15, 2019.

“Three years ago Breanna gave me the greatest gift I’ll ever receive. There is so much I have done in three years and st...
10/11/2020

“Three years ago Breanna gave me the greatest gift I’ll ever receive. There is so much I have done in three years and still so much I can do now because of her. There will never be enough words to thank her enough for saving my life.” - E
“I can’t wait to see how God uses us in the future, and I can’t wait to see Erin continue to make lifelong memories with the ones she loves. Be the light in the darkness. Be the hope to the hopeless. Let your faith be bigger than your fear. Be more.” - B
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Repost courtesy of . Breanna was a living kidney donor for Erin on September 12, 2017.

// “This is what a miracle looks like: Max working in physical therapy before his transplant, and Max working in physi...
10/09/2020

// “This is what a miracle looks like: Max working in physical therapy before his transplant, and Max working in physical therapy, almost 14 months post-transplant. If I had never seen him before I would had never thought these two pictures are of the same child.
The choice our donor family made gave Max an opportunity to live. To them we were complete strangers — they didn't know our skin color, our religion or our political views — but they still chose to donate selflessly. When I think of where would world is right now, I truly don't think there is a more incredible act of love and sacrifice for your fellow man, than the gift of organ donation.”
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Repost courtesy of . Max received a on August 19, 2019.

“You are not what you go through... this is what this picture from a year ago tells me.In this pic I see a tired, stress...
10/08/2020

“You are not what you go through... this is what this picture from a year ago tells me.
In this pic I see a tired, stressed and worried mom who is in over her head. A mom who didn’t sign up for any of this. A mom who doesn’t know whether she can do it. A mom who is ready to quit because that might be easier.
It’s funny looking back at pictures from last year. I was so lost. There was a lot of internet support, but what I needed was somebody to hold my hand, give me a hug and tell me it’s gonna be ok even if they didn’t know that for sure.
Last year was the worst year of my life. I didn’t know what 2020 would look like but here we are. I’m living life enjoying my terrific toddler who’s about to turn 2! We didn’t think he would celebrate his first birthday when he got his diagnoses but look at him today definitely keeping me in check. I’m so thankful for the community on here. You are not what you go through.”
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Repost courtesy of . Skyler’s son received a on July 19, 2019.

“You are stronger than you know. When we go through life’s struggles we sometimes feel weak. It is as if we have forgott...
10/08/2020

“You are stronger than you know. When we go through life’s struggles we sometimes feel weak. It is as if we have forgotten the many things we have been through and how we have changed our lives before. I am here to tell you that at this very moment, no matter what you are going through, you are stronger than you know.
Sometimes we don’t know our power until the time comes to use it. It lies dormant within us and emerges just when we think we can’t go on. And when it does, we find that we had much more power and strength than we ever thought possible.
So when you feel like giving up and throwing in the towel, know in your heart that your strength is on its way to the surface. One day you will look at this moments and see just how strong you really were. I promise.... you are stronger than you feel and much stronger than you know.”
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Repost courtesy of Fight2Breathe. Caleigh received a double on October 20, 2015 and June 8, 2018.

// “A little less than two months before I got the call, I went into the hospital to wait because I was becoming too s...
10/06/2020

// “A little less than two months before I got the call, I went into the hospital to wait because I was becoming too sick to wait at home. When I got the call, my mom was getting ready to take me off the unit with my wheelchair and oxygen so I could get some fresh air. My cardiologist came up to us and said they found a match. It felt unreal to think I was going to have a fully functioning heart. I’ve never felt more appreciative in my life than I did in that very moment.”
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From The Waiting List guest contributor Madeline Mitchell of Odenton, Maryland. She received a on June 21, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Madeline Mitchell)

// "My call came at the stoke of midnight on August 12, 2017. My wife was asleep. I was finishing the chapter in a boo...
10/05/2020

// "My call came at the stoke of midnight on August 12, 2017. My wife was asleep. I was finishing the chapter in a book I was reading and was ready to turn over and go to sleep myself when the phone rang. My wife woke up. I recognized the number as a Cleveland area number. I looked at her, and then answered.
The voice on the other end said she was with the Cleveland Clinic heart transplant team and the there was only one reason she would be calling me at that time of night: they thought they had a heart for me. More testing needed to be done on the heart, but they wanted me there by 7:00AM.
Upon hanging up, we immediately prayed for the donor and donor's family. It only takes 3.5 hours to get from our house to Cleveland, but neither of us were going back to sleep. We got up and tried to let it sink in that after nearly three years of waiting, I might actually get my heart. We picked our things. We each took a shower. I noted that this might be the last time I had to pack my LVAD controller into the waterproof bag to shower. I did one last dressing change for my driveline site and we left.
The testing was done on the heart, but it was well into the afternoon before we heard it was a match. The heart still had to be visually seen by my surgical team and I was actually in the OR before I was told it was a go. Sometime after midnight, my new heart was beating inside me, more than 24 hours after .”
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From The Waiting List guest contributor Patrick McEntee of Dayton, OH. Patrick received a on August 13, 2017. This photo with his wife and cardiologist was taken the morning of his transplant. (Photo courtesy of Patrick McEntee)

// “When I learned that my recipient had passed away in March 2014 and that her family had moved out of town and was u...
10/02/2020

// “When I learned that my recipient had passed away in March 2014 and that her family had moved out of town and was unreachable, my regret turned to guilt. The news of her passing hit me harder than I expected. Part of me felt like I lost a family member; part of me felt guilty that I had never given her the chance to meet me.
Now I can only hope that I can transform my guilt into something positive. The news of my recipient’s passing has sparked a desire to honor her by being a more active ambassador for a part of organ donation awareness. The opportunity to give a kidney to another was such a moment. It remains one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. It reminds my family and I to think of others as we consider our blessings.
So now, I come out from hiding behind by veil of anonymity to share my story. I hope by doing so, it helps people understand a little more about organ donation – the incredible gift, the incredible journey.”
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Sierra Donor Services ambassador Jamie Topper was an altruistic living kidney donor on November 17, 2004. (Photo by David Y. Lee)

// “On February 14, 2017 I had a pretty wild Valentine’s day: the joke goes I spent it naked and doped up with my frie...
10/01/2020

// “On February 14, 2017 I had a pretty wild Valentine’s day: the joke goes I spent it naked and doped up with my friend Dave, but with the blessings of his wife and my partner because I was giving him my liver.
But the fact that our surgeries fell on Valentine’s Day isn’t really the reason the holiday was reinvented for me, it was because of all the versions of love I experienced as a result. Take this photo of my mom and my daughter just after I got to the post-op ICU: a moment I have no memory of but I treasure it for how it encapsulates my mom caring so lovingly for my daughter while I was in the hospital, it shows my daughter being so brave and so tender in a very frightening environment.
The photo was taken by my partner Pete because he knew I would want to revisit these moments and even go public with them so we could encourage others, so he wasn’t afraid of pulling out the camera in the eight days I spent in the hospital.
The ice packs on my shoulder were the frantic attempts of doctors and nurses to soothe my “referred pain” I woke up to (did you know the right shoulder and liver talk to each other?!) which reminds me of the love I felt from and for just about everyone I met during this time who made the choice to work with sick people (and healthy people like me!) I think about the people who made us food for weeks on end. It’s no news flash that food is love, but my tribe really brought it.
It is profoundly challenging to explain what a gift it was to ME to have had the chance to lay down with someone and give them some life. The experience was like shooting what I thought was “love” through a prism and seeing it come out the other end in a million different directions and in a million different colors. I am so grateful to have had the chance to feel love so deeply and for the way this natural high lives within me with the exact same potency three years later.”
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Repost courtesy of . She was a living liver donor on February 14, 2017.

// “I think it changed me. You are a part of this sharing experience of saving someone’s life that you love and care a...
10/01/2020

// “I think it changed me. You are a part of this sharing experience of saving someone’s life that you love and care about. It gives you self-worth. There is nothing about it that isn’t worthwhile. There are no regrets, at all. Whether it lasted forever or a period of time."
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From The Waiting List guest contributor Jennifer Hanna of Sacramento, CA. She was a living kidney donor on August 26, 2004. (Photo by David Y. Lee)

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