Lone Star Circle of Life Bike Tour

Local Events: San Antonio

Day 8:

Saturday, October 10, 2009
Austin to San Antonio

The Lone Star Circle of Life team will leave South Austin on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. to head for San Antonio. The team will ride into the Rolling Oaks Mall, 6909 North Loop (Loop 1604 and Nacogdoches Avenue) at 2:00 p.m. The riders will meet their honorees and guests at the main entrance to the mall by JCPenney.

A reception will be held at the JCPenney court where the riders will be introduced. At that time, each rider will introduce the honoree they rode for that day. Information about blood, tissue and organ donation will be available on-site and a drive for the National Marrow Donor Program Registry will be held.

Event Coordinator

For more information, contact:

Yvonne Ybarra
South Texas Blood and Tissue Center
6211 I-10 West
San Antonio, TX 78201
Phone: 210-731-5513

Day Riders

Tim Cormier - "Four years ago, I donated a kidney to my wife, Maria. A friend introduced me to cycling to get in shape for the donation. Since then, I have become a serious cyclist. I want to show potential donors that there is nothing to fear and that there is life after organ donation."

For information about being a day rider, please contact the local event coordinator listed above.

Honorees

Brian Brasseaux – Organ and Tissue Donor
Brian Brasseaux was a loving husband, father, brother and friend. Married to his high-school sweetheart, Christine, for 17 years, they shared a love that a lot of people never have the opportunity to experience. Unfortunately, their life together ended abruptly on November 4, 2007.

Brian and Christine met while still in high school and married several years later. They settled down in Sugar Land, Texas and had four wonderful children, Trey, James, Erin and Kelly. Their four-bedroom house was busting at the seams. Brian was a very caring, loyal person who loved life and lived it to the fullest. He believed in helping the underdog and giving people a chance. He was a gifted athlete who excelled in all sports and even had the New York Mets look at him for baseball. There was a history of heart disease in Brian’s family. Christine and Brian recognized the family history and would discuss it and pay particular attention to diet and exercise.

On November 4, 2007, Brian went out for a bike ride. It was time for dinner and Christine has sent their oldest son, Trey, to call Brian in. Trey found his father lying on the ground at the front door and came to tell Christine something was wrong. Christine started CPR, but Brian did not make it.

The Brasseaux family was devastated. They had lost their fabulous father and Christine had lost the love of her life. Christine knew immediately that Brian would want to give his organs to anyone who might need them. That decision was easy. Christine was asked to donate his eyes, his skin and even his heart. In true Aggie spirit, the last thing they asked Christine for was Brian’s thumb. Christine’s response was “of course you can have the Aggie thumb!” The Brasseaux’s are blessed to have each other and are thankful that Brian was in their life for as long as he was. Christine knows her life is better for having known him and loved him. Her focus is now on their children and raising them to be as caring, loving, loyal and decent as their father was.

Brenda Yount – Kidney Donor
"On January 5 of this year, I donated a kidney to my brother Rev. John Yount. He lives in North Carolina and the surgery was at Duke University Medical Center.

He is doing very well and at eight weeks has no need for Prograft and steroids."

Zaryah Foster – Cord Blood Donor
Zaryah Elaine Foster entered this work on January 22, 2009, at 3:19pm. In her short little life she has brought joy to her mother, brother, grandparents, and countless other family members each and every time she smiles or giggles. Her family understands what it means to have a child that is free from life threatening ailments. That is why Zaryah’s cord blood was donated in hopes that she could help another person enjoy a life free of pain and sickness, or at least to alleviate it.

With a parent that works with the National Marrow Donor Program, her mother sees first hand, how important it is to donate precious stem cells from brand new cord blood. Zaryahs’s mother wanted to set an example for her and her brother to show them how important it is to lend a helping hand to your fellow brother or sister in hopes that they will continue to support programs like Be The Match to make it possible for minorities, like ourselves, to receive these life-saving transplants. Maybe, as Zaryah and her brother Raymond grow to be adults, technology will have evolved and it will be possible to more patients to receive the life sustaining transplants they so desperately need.

Eve Campos – Kidney Transplant Recipient
After living with chronic kidney disease for four years which ultimately lead to renal failure, Eve had both kidneys removed.

She was on dialysis for a year. On August 20, 2008, through organ donation, Eve was given a right kidney the ultimate gift an individual or family can give.

Eve now is back at school growing every day and is able to look forward to a long healthy life.

Ben S. Simmons – Tissue Donor
Ben was a loving husband, father, grandfather and uncle.

His passion was officiating sports and showing new-comers the ropes. He was an advocate for organ donation and made sure to make his wishes clear to his family.

He was a giving man in life and continued to give after his death.

David Anthony Silva – Organ Donor
David was a loving, young man with aspiring dreams. At 22 years old, David fulfilled his final wish by giving the gift of life to four families.

His warm captivating smile, his love and his caring manner continues to live in the hearts of his mother, grandmother and his entire family.

Olivia Ibarra – Stem Cell Transplant Recipient
Olivia was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia at the age of 14. She had a stem cell transplant on October 20, 2008. Her sister was her donor.

Olivia is a senior at Holy Cross High School and loves being involved in sports. She is also an active volunteer with the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, serving as an ambassador and honored hero for our Pennies for Patients campaign and our ParTee for a cure gala.

Maria Garcia - Platelet Recipient
Big hearts give back woman’s independence.

Maria Garcia made her way to the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center Donor Pavilion recently to personally thank the people for saving her life. For six months, Garcia dealt with a sickness that doctors could not properly diagnose, surviving only through frequent platelet transfusions.

The battle began during a visit to the doctor’s office on October 1, 2008. An ordinary visit lead to her being checked into the hospital. The doctor had received Garcia’s blood results indicating that her platelet count was at four; a critical level considering that the average platelet count is 150,000 to 400,000. Admitted to the hospital, Garcia spent the next several days working with doctors trying to diagnose her illness. “I can recall being given what seemed like lots of different medications and being tested for different ailments and before I knew it, I had spent 10 days in the hospital.”

Bringing her platelet count up to satisfactory level, doctors released her to go home. Garcia thought she may have beaten the illness after receiving platelet transfusions but her return home was short lived. After four days, Garcia had to return to the hospital as her platelet count had dropped once again to single digits. With such a low platelet count, doctors kept Garcia in the hospital as a precaution. Despite having blood transfusions, Garcia's platelet count would only be at an acceptable level for a few days.

“Because I had such a low platelet count, doctors thought I had fatty liver disease but when treatments for that did not have results, doctors moved onto other diagnoses,” said Garcia. It was not until doctors had eliminated other diagnoses that it was determined, Garcia had idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, (ITP). The illness is an immune disorder in which the body attacks the cells responsible for blood clotting (platelets), usually when they reach the spleen. Under doctor’s advice, Garcia elected for her spleen to be removed. “It was a hard surgery that included platelets before, during and after the operation,” said Garcia.

After half a year of battling her illness Garcia left the hospital with a normal platelet count of 400,000. “I have my independence back and able to do the things I once was able to do including spending time with my big family,” said Garcia. “I am able to do simple tasks once again because of the platelet donors. I think they have hearts as big as Texas if they can think of somebody else and donate.”

Rita Farley – Tissue Recipient
On September 8, 2008, Rita had surgery to remove two damaged discs from her lower neck. She opted to receive donor bone to replace the two discs when three vertebrae were fused.

She has since been released to resume most normal activities by her physician.

Ginger Boatright - Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Donor
Ginger Boatright joined the Be The Match registry at a Rock & Roll up your sleeve in 2001. She works with the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance and is well aware of the need for all life saving donations. She wasn't sure if she would ever be called upon to donate, but if ever needed she was ready.

In February of 2009 she received a call saying she could be the match for a 63 year-old male with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. She was at the second stage of testing and her hopes went up after she moved up to the third and final stage of testing, known as confirmatory testing.

Unfortunately in mid March, she received a letter stating she was the match however the patient wasn't ready at that time. About one month later she received a call stating the patient was ready to move forward to transplant. She was excited and was able to donate stem cells in July.

Ginger has since become an ambassador and has participated in a training video. She is a very kind and generous person, and we are thankful for her support and commitment.

Adolfo Chan - Stem Cell Transplant Recipient
Aldolfo was born with a blood disorder known as blackfan diamondis. His bone marrow failed to produce enough red blood cells and as result Adolfo was in constant need of blood transfusions.

When he was four years old, he received a bone marrow transplant from his younger sister, Jessica. Unfortunately the transplant never engrafted and after some time it was determined an unrelated donor need to be found. The unknown was terrifying for Adolfo and his family, they didn't know if a match would be found or if the cells would engraft this time. There were so many unanswered questions, but they prayed. Their prayers were answered when Christopher Garcia was found to be a match. In July of 2007, at the age of nine, Adolfo received a stem cell transplant and it has been successful!!

Adolfo is twelve years old now and he feels good. He has returned to school and normal activities. The staff who helped him through both transplants describe him as kind, respectful and just plain sweet. They can't say enough about what a wonderful young man he is. Aldolfo and his family are thankful for his health and to be together. Adolfo says Chris has a generous heart and he is thankful for him because he no longer requires blood transfusions.

Christopher Garcia - Stem Cell Donor
In October of 1994, Christopher Garcia filled out a consent form and gave a blood sample. He had just joined the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. He thought "no big deal - maybe he'll be called up some day maybe not."

Time passed, twelve years to be exact, until that some day came. In December of 2006 Chris was told he could be the match for a nine-year-old boy who needed a transplant. He celebrated the new year and the chance that he could be the match. Finally in May of 2007, it was decided Chris was indeed the best candidate. He donated his life saving-stem cells in July of 2007. The little boy who received his cells is doing great and, thanks to Chris, he is now 12 years old.

On a side note, Chris has been a wonderful ambassador to our program. He is literally just a phone call away whenever we have something going on. When we call him his first question is usually "Do you all need me to donate again?" From there it turns into "How can I help? Tell me when and where."

He has been gracious enough to talk to potential donors and tell them about his experience as a donor. He has attended numerous community awareness events and even taken part in a training video. We can't say enough about Chris and his efforts to help us raise awareness for the Be The Match registry. We are honored to help in bringing he and Adolfo together for the first time.

Local Sponsors

	Rolling Oaks Mall

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