Lone Star Circle of Life Bike Tour

Local Events: Waco

Day 5:

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Dallas/Ft. Worth to Waco

The Lone Star Circle of Life team will leave the south Dallas/Fort Worth area at 7:30 a.m. for Waco. They will arrive at approximately 3:30 p.m. at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, 100 Hillcrest Medical Blvd
Waco, Texas 76712. Refreshments will be served under the "Tree of Life", followed by a reception will be held in the Austin Auditorium 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 as well as a drive for the National Marrow Donor Program Registry.

Event Coordinator

For more information, contact:

Nancy Goodnight
Scott & White Marrow Donor Program
2401 S. 31st St.
Temple, TX 76508
Phone: 254-724-7000
marrowdonor@swmail.sw.org

Day Riders

David Guyer - "It's important to promote the ongoing need for blood, marrow and organ donations. I would hope that by riding, I could influence friends, family and acquaintances to donate.

Nancy Goodnight - Cyclist and avid runner, Nancy is on the staff of the Scott & White Marrow Donor Program and the race director for the Miracle Match Marathon.

Marian Khoury - "I would like to help support this cause and ride with the team as they come into Waco. My father was a donor 25 years ago and my mother has been a recipient of blood transfusions. I have also been a blood donor since I was 17 as well."

Susan Field - Susan is a past Lone Star team rider and advocate for doation.

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.

Cliff Harris – Stem Cell Donor
Cliff Harris registered with the Scott & White Marrow Donor Program during the 2008 Skittles Waco Wild West Century. He had attended the event with his wife, Darci, who is the Plant Manager for the local Mars Snackfood facility where Skittles are made.

Just a few months later later, Cliff came up as a possible match for a man who is only a few years younger than himself. He said he was struck by a sense of urgency when it was pointed out that the quick match might have indicated that the recipient had already been searching the registry for him before he signed up. After confirmatory typing showed that Cliff was the best match in the world for this man he was asked if he would be willing to be his donor.

Cliff did not hesitate. He donated his peripheral blood stem cells a few weeks later. After the experience, he said he would do it again any time.

After his donation, Cliff has volunteered to help the Marrow Program by joining the steering committee for the Miracle Match Marathon, which raises funds to put more Wacoans on the Be The Match Registry.

Christopher Ryan Pledger - Organ Donor
Christopher Pledger was only 18 years old when he died in a traffic accident in 1999.

His parents remembered a conversation they had with their son a few years earlier when Chris told them he wished to be an organ donor if anything ever happened to him. It was then that Chris’ parents looked beyond their own grief and gave life to others.

Chris’ mother, Pam Pledger shares her son’s story years after his accident and is proud that her son made the very generous decision to be an organ donor. Texas Organ Sharing Alliance honors the memory of Christopher Pledger and the also honors Pam for her help in educating the public about organ donation.


Thank you for all that you do.

Steve Maule – Stem Cell Donor
Steve Maule registered with the National Marrow Donor Program at a “Thanks Mom” drive held in Austin a couple of years ago.

After moving to Waco, he was contacted by the Scott & White Marrow Donor Program and told he was a match for a man with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.
Steve agreed to donate peripheral blood stem cells to this man, giving him a second chance of life.

Glen Hobarth – Kidney Recipient
Glen had a kidney transplant from an unidentified donor in September of 2006.

Humberto Reveles – Stem Cell Donor
Last December, Humberto Reveles donated his peripheral blood stem cells after being found to be a perfect match for a man with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Humberto had registered during the Waco National Donor Day that was held at Saturn of Waco in 2002. After seven years on the registry, he came up as a possible match for a patient in need of a transplant. After confirmatory typing was completed, he was told he was the very best match for this man in the world. Humberto agreed to be his donor and in just a few weeks, donated peripheral blood stem cells to give him a second chance of life.

Kristi DeCluitt - Organ Donation Advocate
Justice of the Peace, Kristi DeCluitt not only ensures that justice is brought to victims of violence but, through her cooperation, allows some of those victims to live on through others by giving the “Gift of Life.”

Texas Organ Sharing Alliance recognizes Ms. DeCluitt for her support of organ donation and on behalf of the more than 102,000 people waiting for a life-saving transplant and those families whose loved ones are able to donate, thank you.

Jeannette Alexander – Marrow Donor
Jeannette Alexander is being honored for her marrow donation to a person she has never met.

Jeannette joined the registry in September of 2006 and was called this past June to see if she would consider being a donor for a woman who had been diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. She agreed, and just a few weeks ago, donated her marrow to give this woman a second chance for life free of leukemia.

We honor Jeannette for her altruistic gift of a second chance to someone she has never met.

John Pierce – Kidney Recipient
John Pierce is a retired U.S. Army paratrooper (82nd Airborne Division) injured in the line of duty.

He had spent five years on kidney dialysis and was on the transplant list with no calls for a donor. However, after Tom Warnock (a Christian friend) tried to donate and was not a match, his wife Valerie said that the lord had put John on her mind about donating her kidney.

“I was skeptical,” said John, “because I had been through so much that my faith was weak. The lord changed all that when Valerie was tested and by God’s grace was a match! On June 14th, 2000, I received her kidney and I’m doing great nine years later.”

Joyce Symank - Blood Donor
“Why I do what I do?
I do what I do for others because God has so richly blessed me in so very many ways throughout my life. I volunteer in other organizations, but Carter BloodCare has become very special to me. My mother-in-law was transfusion dependent for a year and a half at Goodall-Witcher Hospital at Clifton and it was then that we learned the immediate need of blood for her existence.

After her death, my husband, Charles, was invited to serve on the Goodall-Witcher Hospital Foundation Board and I felt that volunteering with the Auxiliary and to serve on the Blood Drive Committee was a way for me to support him. Little did I know that within that first year that I would be asked to serve as Blood Drive Chairman to coordinate the community blood drives at Clifton. I feel dedicated to this effort and thank Carter BloodCare for offering me opportunities to serve others. Last, but not least, I thank my husband, Charles, who allows me time away from home to do what I love doing - helping others.”

Logan Maddox– Blood Recipient
Uphill Climb.

Logan Maddox was born with a bone marrow deficiency. His treatment includes steroids, weekly lab work and frequent blood transfusions to keep him fueled for the road ahead.

His family supports his every step. And thanks to blood donors, he gets what he needs, when he needs it.

Julie Loberger – Autologous Stem Cell Recipient
Julie Loberger, wife of Andy and mother of 14 year old Breanna and ten year old Brynne, lives in Woodway, TX and is a substitute teacher, aspiring writer and volunteer.

After being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in December, 2004 and again in June, 2006, Julie underwent an autologous stem cell transplant at MD Anderson in Houston in October, 2006.

She celebrates her third birthday on October 12!

Valarie Warnock – Kidney Donor
Valarie did not know John Pierce although he was a friend of her husband, Tom. She first met John when she accompanied her husband to the laboratory where he was tested to see if he could be a kidney donor for John.

When Tom and Valarie found out that Tom was not a close enough match for him to donate a kidney to John, Valarie, a mother of eight children, felt called as a Christian to be tested herself. She said she knew she would be the one. She donated a kidney to John in June of 2000.

Susan Wehmeyer – Searching fo r a Donor
Susan Wehmeyer was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2004, and with aggressive treatment the tumor was eliminated.

Five years later, it has been discovered that the treatment harmed her bone marrow, a condition named myleodysplasia. A bone marrow transplant is needed to replace her damaged marrow.

She is now searching the National Marrow Donor Program Registry in hopes of finding a matched donor.

Susan is a stay-at-home mom of three precious children ages four, two and nine months. She has been married to her dream guy for nine years and counting.

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