April 2011

Linking Hands & Celebrating Life

Saturday, April 16 was a particularly special day for one of the guests at Linking Hands in Columbia, S.C. Reagan Potter, who is alive because she received a heart transplant not long after she was born, celebrated her 6th birthday on that Saturday. More than 100 Linking Hands participants sang "Happy Birthday To You" in celebration of Reagan's life before they linked hands in support of organ and tissue donation at the Riverfront Park event. They helped raise awareness of the need for more organ and tissue donors to help save the lives of nearly 1,000 on the transplant waiting list in South Carolina.

Donor families, transplant recipients, donation professionals, volunteers and others shared time together to the tunes of The Swingin Richards. Joe Pinner of WIS-TV was Master of Ceremonies for the special event that included remarks from Tracy Armstrong, Executive Director of Donate Life South Carolina, Milton Kimpson, board member of the National Kidney Foundation of South Carolina, Jamie Muldrow, Communications Manager for the South Carolina Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross, as well as Nancy A. Kay, President/CEO of LifePoint.