Second Chances:  Receiving the Gift of Life

My Story
Almost 12 years ago I received the gift of life, a heart transplant. My donor, Brandon, was only 15, riding his bike home when he was tragically hit and killed by a car. That's him on the cover in his football uniform. During my illness and wait for an organ, I lost faith in God but He never gave up on me. My accomplishments and zeal for life since my transplant -- completing graduate school, getting married, writing this book, all while working full-time as public affairs manager for LifeCenter, the local organ recovery agency in Cincinnati.

Other Transplant Recipient Friends
Read about others who have received heart, liver, kidney, and kidney/pancreas transplants as well as a young burn patient who received donated skin. People like Patty Britton, a young woman who has survived 3 liver transplants. Who, in an ironic turn of events, also became a donor mother when her newborn baby Christopher lost his fight for life. A physician at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and Childrens Hospital of Cincinnati, Dr. Ed Lowe, became a patient when he needed a heart transplant. Paul Hackman, though diabetes had robbed him of his sight and one leg, how he triumphed to carry the Olympic torch through Cincinnati and donate his time to lecture at high schools about organ and tissue donation.

Donor Family Stories
Donor families who have lost sons and daughters, wives and moms, share their stories.

The Need for Organ and Tissue Donation
There are now more than 77,000 people on the national waiting list for organs. In the United States alone 16 people die each day waiting on the list. Learn how you can make a difference. How to request an organ donor card. One person can save or enhance the lives of as many as 50 individuals.

It's an inspirational book. You'll laugh when you read about the dreams Wink White had while experiencing "ICU psychosis" in the hospital hooked up to the Novacor, waiting for a heart. You'll cry when you hear the heart-breaking story of the Ruwans, whose teenaged son Randy took his own life on Christmas Eve 1992. But through it all, you'll come away with a sense of how important faith is, not only to help the recipients through their illness and transplant but also for those courageous donor families who during a tragic time have offered the gift of life.

TO ORDER:  To order your copy of Second Chances: Receiving the Gift of Life, just send cash, check or money order made payable to Jeff Lueders for $14.50 ($23.00 in Canada) for one book. Two books are $24.50 ($40.00 in Canada). This price includes postage, etc, and will be sent out priority mail. I will autograph your book to you, unless you tell me not to. Please include your name and address if not on the check and mail to:  Jeff Lueders, 4341 Regency Ridge Court, #308, Cincinnati, OH  45248.  For foreign countries, please contact us via e-mail for prices at jlheart@fuse.net. A portion of every book we sell will be donated to LifeCenter, our local organ recovery agency.

Copyright 2001 by Jeff and Debbie Lueders

LINKS: LifeCenter
            United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
            National Kidney Foundation