Transplant Education for Living Legacies

In March/April of 2016 three fellow friends and I created Love Life; Gift Life. At that point 3 of us had received double lung transplants, one was waiting for her first transplant, and I was heading towards being listed for my second transplant. I had just stopped working full-time, and started using supplemental O2 more and more. We started LLGL because we felt that the existing organ donation foundation(s) in SA were not doing nearly enough to promote the cause, and that they were going about it the wrong way completely.

During the existence of LLGL, one of us received a single lung transplant, I received my second double lung transplant, and one of us passed away. We also gained an amazing new member whose passion for organ donation equaled (and possibly exceeded) our own. When I was waiting for my transplant, it kept me going, and made me feel that even though I physically couldn't do much, I was able to create a kind of legacy to leave behind, while at the same time "giving back" to the cause. It gave me a purpose as well, especially on those days where things felt rather hopeless.

Unfortunately 2018 has been a very tough year for LLGL. There were legal issues with our name, which seemed to be the catalyst for a whole range of other internal conflicts which could not be resolved. In the end we voted to dissolve LLGL. I had hoped we would salvage SOME of what we've build up over the 2.5 years, but it will not be the case. It has caused me countless sleepless nights, and walking away from our "baby" after these 2 years with absolutely nothing to show for it feels terrible, but sometimes you need to know when to walk away from something - esp if it's not worth the anguish it creates. Life is too short to be dragged down.

It's not all doom and gloom though, three of us, Fawn, Bonnie and myself, have started up a brand new NPO called TELL! Transplant Education for Living Legacies. We're fresh and fun, full of ideas, have a wealth of legal and first hand transplant experience between the three of us, plus some amazing people who believe in us. What we lack in funds, we make up for in enthusiasm. I'm so SUPER excited about this!  If you're a follower of my blog, or even just happened to stumble upon this post, then please follow us on social media! Website to follow at a later stage...

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