Lifesharing

Lifesharing Lifesharing coordinates organ and tissue donation in San Diego and Imperial counties.

The non-profit, federally-designated organ and tissue recovery organization serving San Diego and Imperial Counties.

09/02/2026

CONGRATULATIONS, DR. FADY NASRALLAH!   LIFESHARING’S ASSOCIATE MEDICAL DIRECTOR WINS PRESTIGIOUS TEACHING AWARD 🏆 With Labor Day around the corner, we are reflecting on one of our proudest moments of the summer:   In June, our Associate Medical Director, Dr. Fady Nasrallah, received the Admiral Donald L. Sturtz Teaching Award from the chief residents of the General Surgery Residency Program at Naval Medical Center San Diego.   This is a BIG deal.    While textbooks and lectures provide essential medical knowledge, surgical expertise is built through hands-on experience.   And Dr. Nasrallah makes every effort to give physicians the real-life experience they need to save lives.   As he said in his award acceptance speech:   “When I was in residency, I was the shy kid.   So, it took a little bit more effort for me to get to do parts [roles] in the operating room.   And I wanted to flip the story…. So now, I’m in the operating room [and] I have a resident with me… They get to learn to do the case.   Because one day, these guys and ladies are going to be taking care of us.   Do you want them to learn how to do this or not?”
Thank you, Dr. Nasrallah, for your passion for excellence and your incredible patience in teaching others.   You make everyone around you better.   
Video credit:  Blissful Seeds 
Note:  The original video has been edited for time
We also want to take a moment to recognize the Navy admiral for whom this award is named:   According to history.navy.mil:   Rear Admiral Donald L. Sturtz was a naval aviator who “gave up a promising career in naval aviation to pursue another passion:  helping people as a member of the medical profession”.    Admiral Sturtz treated wounded troops during the Vietnam War and became one of the Navy’s foremost experts in trauma surgery and care.    He was elected as the first commanding officer of the medical unit on the  hospital ship, USNS Mercy. 
Visual Description of video:
-Dr. Fady Nasrallah walks on stage and accepts a framed award
-Dr. Nasrallah hugs people on stage
-Dr. Nasrallah approaches the podium and gives brief remarks

08/24/2026

🦋 A SAN DIEGO PLAYGROUND NAMED AFTER A LIFESHARING ORGAN DONOR 🦋 The Logan Heights CDC re-named its playground “Peyton’s Place” in honor of Lifesharing organ donor Peyton Nurse.  It’s very fitting, since Peyton built the playground with his own hands.  The organization said it wanted to ensure Peyton’s “spirit of care and dedication lives on in the laughter and growth of every child who plays there.”  
Peyton was also posthumously awarded the group’s “Distinguished Volunteer Award”, which his family accepted on his behalf.   This video contains pictures from the award ceremony last year, plus archival photos and footage of Peyton building the playground.  
We’re sharing this story today because it’s an important milestone.   Four years ago exactly, Peyton became a Lifesharing organ donor.   He saved three lives after donating his heart, lungs and kidneys.   Our team was humbled to carry out Peyton’s final act of kindness.    His mother still remembers the day he came home from the DMV after checking the box.   He said, “Why not?  If I can help people, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Some of our longtime followers will already know Peyton because he was our Rose Parade Honoree in 2025.    His floral portrait was featured on the OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade Float as it glided down Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.   Amazingly, Peyton’s heart was beating just feet away from his picture — his heart recipient, Harley Duffer, was riding the float in his honor.
Special thanks to the Logan Heights Community Development Corporation for their assistance with this social media post. 
Additional thanks to:
Abdur-Rahim Hameed, President of the National Black Contractors Association for providing the voice narration for this video.   Mr. Hameed was Peyton’s mentor;  we recorded this interview with him in 2024.
📸Photo credits:  
Logan Heights CDC
Salvadore (Sal) Maldonado
Video edited by Lifesharing PR Director Anne State

08/19/2026

📣 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! 📣 CALIFORNIA’s DONOR REGISTRY HITS 20-MILLION! That’s how many people have checked the “yes” box at the DMV since the registry started. (Whoa…. That’s a lot of pink dots!) We’re at the State Capitol in Sacramento for the press announcement…

💍 “TIL DEATH DO US PART” — Karen and Dave Sommers said those words to each other when they got married 44 years ago.    ...
08/10/2026

💍 “TIL DEATH DO US PART” — Karen and Dave Sommers said those words to each other when they got married 44 years ago.    In 2021, their love story almost came to an end when Karen became deathly ill, in dire need of a liver transplant.  A Good Samaritan emerged in the form of an organ donor, and Karen’s life was saved.   When she woke up from the hours-long transplant surgery, she felt better than she’d felt in years.   This morning, Karen spoke to our team and expressed gratitude to the anonymous organ donor who saved her life.    
Then she pointed to her husband Dave, who was sitting in the front row of our learning center.   She started tearing up as she described how he cared for her in the years before her transplant:  “I couldn’t have done this without him”.
When Karen and Dave said their wedding vows more than 40 years ago, they meant them:  “To have and to hold, from this day forward... in sickness and in health....”
Both Karen and Dave are volunteers for Lifesharing.

TRAINING TODAY... CURES TOMORROW:   So grateful for our team and the work we do!    This team selfie 🤳 was taken after a...
07/31/2026

TRAINING TODAY... CURES TOMORROW:   So grateful for our team and the work we do!    This team selfie 🤳 was taken after a 2-day surgical workshop.    Every day, Lifesharing works to identify healthy organs for patients on the transplant waiting list.   But when an organ isn’t healthy enough to be transplanted, there’s still a chance it can help people.   Donating organs for research helps scientists develop new treatments and unlock cures for disease.    This training was all about recovering organs for both transplantation and research — saving lives today and driving new discoveries for tomorrow.
Billy Snyder (far right) is Lifesharing’s Surgical Services Supervisor and he organized this impactful two-day seminar of hands-on learning.

07/18/2026

🎥 WE MADE THE NEWS 🏳️‍🌈 Thank you CBS 8 San Diego for capturing the Lifesharing team in the Pride Parade!

🏳️‍🌈 PRIDE SHINES ON! 🏳️‍🌈 Lifesharing is proud to march alongside our colleagues at UC San Diego Health in the San Dieg...
07/18/2026

🏳️‍🌈 PRIDE SHINES ON! 🏳️‍🌈 Lifesharing is proud to march alongside our colleagues at UC San Diego Health in the San Diego Pride Parade - a celebration of love, diversity, inclusion, joy and resilience. The parade is the largest single-day civic event in the region 🏳️‍🌈

07/17/2026

🏆AN AWARDS SHOW FOR SAN DIEGO’S FINEST HOSPITAL WORKERS 🏆 Thank you to all the healthcare workers who attended Lifesharing’s “Best Practices Symposium” at Liberty Station this week!   It was an entire day of heartfelt discussions about organ donation:   How we save lives, and the crucial role that local hospitals play.   Throughout the symposium, Lifesharing recognized several local medical centers and individual departments for helping us save lives. Scroll down for the full list of winners.
The symposium was spearheaded by Lifesharing Lead Hospital Services Manager Patrick Balakian, with assistance from Jean Moneda and the entire Hospital Services team under the leadership of Samantha Blaz, Lifesharing’s director of donor development & strategic partnerships.    
Thank you to all the Lifesharing staff members who shared their knowledge at the symposium and/or volunteered their time to assist at the event.    
Special thanks to Lifesharing volunteers Natalie Gonzalez and Katie Gonzalez — these donor family members shared their personal stories with the audience… It was one of the most moving moments of the entire program. We have shared their stories in earlier posts which you can view on our Instagram, Facebook and YouTube pages at @ LifesharingSD 🦋
Award winners:
Sharp Memorial Hospital, Best Practice in Donor Management Goals
Palomar Health Chaplain Services and Spiritual Care, Best Practice in Supporting Donor Families
Mina Ghobrial, MD, MPH, Best Practice in Compassionate Communication
Tri-City Medical Center, Best Practice in Honoring Donation Heroes
Scripps Memorial La Jolla Emergency Department, Best Practice in Timely Referrals
Rady Children’s Hospital PICU, Best Practice in Communication and Collaboration
UCSD East Campus Medical Center Operating Room, Outstanding Growth Achievement
Scripps Green, Achievement in Donor Care Unit Development

06/29/2026

FRESH FLOWERS FOR A TINY HERO MEMORIALIZED ON OUR BUTTERFLY WALL 🦋 Yesterday (June 28) was the birthday of Ava Briones, one of Lifesharing’s heroic tissue donors.   Her mother has written a poignant letter in memory of her daughter, which she has given us permission to share here….
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR TINY HERO IN HEAVEN ❤ 
Dear Ava,
Eight years ago,  you came into this world at 12:21 am.  Born 7.03 lbs. and 19 inches long, you were the smallest baby of three.  You were my beautiful baby girl.  For a week, you touched so many with your presence.  You were laid to rest on July 4, 2018, but you continue to touch many lives in incredible ways….
You were born with a heart full of love.  When you got your angel wings, one of your heart valves was given to an 8-month old boy, in order to save his life. With your selfless and amazing gift, you became one of Lifesharing’s many tissue donor heroes.  You will always be my hero, too. 
We love and miss you every single day.  Happy Birthday, Ava.
Love,
Mom”
Ava’s mother, Lucia Briones, made the brave decision to donate her daughter’s tissues.  Baby Ava’s final heroic act spared a little boy’s parents the excruciating heartbreak of losing a child.  In her short life, Ava impacted so many people — she is missed every single day. 
📸: Photo by Danielle Griggs, volunteer photographer with the group ‘Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep’.   Photos re-posted courtesy of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.
For more information on Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep:  https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org (https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/)
Lifesharing is the federally-designated nonprofit organization that coordinates organ and tissue donation in San Diego and Imperial counties.  We are humbled to work with families such as Ava’s.

COME SEE OUR BOOTH AT THE FAIR!   NOW THRU SUNDAY JUN 28TH!    If you’re at the Del Mar Fairgrounds over the next few da...
06/25/2026

COME SEE OUR BOOTH AT THE FAIR!   NOW THRU SUNDAY JUN 28TH!    If you’re at the Del Mar Fairgrounds over the next few days, please stop by and say hello.    Our booth is located in “Community Corner” — that’s in the middle of the racetrack, not too far from the grandstands.   It’s very close to Fairview Farm.   Hope to see you soon ~

San Diego County Fair Del Mar Fairgrounds

Address

7436 Mission Valley Road
San Diego, CA
92108

Telephone

+16195437225

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Lifesharing posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Featured

Share