We snatched this from music artist ETZIA on Instagram! :)

“Bitch better have my organ! Thanx Pam @recycle_me_life for your lovely organ necklaces. Can't push enough how important is to stay conscious” ‪#‎donateorgans ‪#‎cultur

And thank you ETZIA!

We like to thank you all for your support and your help with spreading organ donation awareness globally. We are so happy to have your support! You make our hearts glow and shine of proudness!

Sincerely thank to you all!

We also wish you a lovely day and a Happy New Year!

-RECYCLE ME

We got this nice photo from Declan Logue! Thank you so much Declan for sharing your story with us! Remember Organ Donation Includes us All. Please make your wishes known. Thank you!

Declan Logue went from a sporty life in his youth to 22 years of having to take things slowly and having dialysis often. Thanks to a donor he was able to get a fully active life back in 1999.

 

Read his story here;

Declan Logue, 51, Kidney transplant 16 years ago (1999)

  “ I went onto dialysis in 1977 10 years after being diagnosed with Wegeners Granulomatosis, a blood disorder that meant my immune system stopped recognising my own tissue, and so attacked my own body, scarring my kidneys.  I was most fortunate to receive a kidney transplant in October 1999 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. The donor family’s compassion and generosity has given a second life to me.

   I work in computing, and have always been quite sporty. Five-a-side football was always a passion, but dialysis (with the anaemia and lack of energy that came with it) put a stop to that. After I had recovered from my transplant and was back to excellent health, I took up golf and became equally frustrated and engrossed in the art of getting a tiny ball into a slightly bigger hole. Through a mutual friend who also played golf, I was made aware of the British Transplant Games, and attended my first Games, at Norwich in 2004, playing golf. The following year, at Loughborough, I attended the whole Games, and on the track, inspired by others, all of whom had received a transplant and were demonstrating the Gift Of Life, rediscovered the pain of exercise - and the pleasure of achievement afterwards.

   Ever since then, I have restarted exercise, and not only reaped the health benefits, have done things I never thought I would. I won medals at the British Transplant Games in Golf and Swimming (Breaststroke 100m).

   I was selected to attend the World Transplant Games in Australia in 2009, and so cycled London-Brighton on a borrowed mountain bike with no prior cycling experience – now that hurt. I was unable to attend Australia as I developed clots in my legs and lungs (DVT and PE). The disappointment just made me more determined.

   I became team manager of the Coventry Transplant Team. I ran the London Marathon in 2010, and prepared ready for a great 2011. I was selected to represent GB & NI at the World Transplant Games in Göteborg, Sweden, and was part of the Floorball team, winning a bronze medal.

   Shortly after the World game I attended the British Transplant Games in Belfast, winning a Gold Medal in the Virtual Triathlon. Then I cycled London-Brighton again – it still hurt, but a lot less. The future is bright.

  However, 2012 was a grim year, with me losing my father to cancer, and then going onto chemotherapy myself due to a lymphoma. Undeterred, I still made my way to the British Transplant Games, in Medway, and competed in the 100m breaststroke – no medals, but it didn’t matter: I had made it there.  I was celebrating the Gift of Life, and had so much to be thankful for.”

 -Declan Logue

More about the World Transplant Games Federation here; http://www.wtgf.org/

This is our super STAR supporter ETZIA, she rules!! Watch her and do check out her necklace at Musikhjälpen! We are super proud!! #etziamusic

https://www.facebook.com/Etziamusic/

Musikhjälpen / Music Aid – 2015 "Nobody should have to escape the climate".From SVT http://www.svtplay.se/klipp/5457526/etzia-med-laten-top-ah-di-line

Edith Augustsson from Kenya in Recycle Me Gold print T-shirt "Your Heart Belongs to Me”, posing for a good cause - Organ donation awareness. Thank you so much Edith!

Did you know that the World's First human Heart Transplant was performed in South Africa by Professor Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town on the third of December 1967.

“The drama of the world’s first human heart transplant, led by Professor Christiaan Neethling Barnard, played out within the walls of the Charles Saint Theatre, at Groote Schuur Hospital on the 3rd December 1967. The human heart transplant, one of the greatest moments in medical history, was made possible by an extraordinary interplay of scientific dedication; human courage and generosity and a timely chain of events.”

Read more at this page; http://www.heartofcapetown.co.za/

This is Pamela Lindgren, Pamela’s main job is as a researcher and product and industrial designer. She is also the founder and non-profit designer of the movement RECYCLE ME for organ donation awareness www.recycleme.life.

The movement is global and we would like to include more countries and organizations working for this cause.

All of the people working and contributing to this project are doing it on a non-profit basis in their free time. Let’s work together! Because organ donation includes us all.

We got this excellent gold plated kidney jewelry today, in web shop next year! Photo and design Pamela Lindgren. All rights reserved © 2015.

This is Noah Swanson. Read his fascinating and beautiful story about his life and the liver transplant that saved his life! Thank you Noah for sharing your story with us!

Thank you all for supporting our cause Organ Donation Awareness. Noah is also advocating, educating and encouraging people to take a stand for organ donation awareness. You will find more about his amazing work here www.atransplantedlife.com

A Transplanted Life

Before I was born, my grandfather passed away from a failed liver.  When I was two years old, my father passed away from a failed liver.  And when I was thirteen years old, I found out that my liver as well was headed for the same demise. 

The summer before I began high school I came down with cough that wouldn’t seem to go away.  As weeks turned into months, my sickness didn’t seem to improve.  In spite of my objection, my mother decided it was time to see the doctor.  As I walked into the clinic, I assumed I would be walking back out with a prescription to cure my cold.  However, as the doctor began to run his diagnostics he soon discovered something more serious than a cold.  An x-ray of my chest revealed pneumonia.  However, my blood work uncovered further issues that my doctor was unable to diagnose.  Instead of cough medicine, I left that day with unanswered questions and a referral to a specialist. 

After seeing specialist after specialist unable to diagnose my sickness, I began to feel like I was trapped in a terrible dream.  In a matter of days I had gone from never stepping foot in a doctor’s office to taking a citywide tour of every hospital in the area as we searched for answers.  After being transferred from one doctor to another, I was finally diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis at the age of fourteen.

The next two years consisted of countless tests, procedures and a good amount of time spent within the walls of multiple hospitals.  I often balanced a line between fear and frustration.  The formidable years of high school were being jaded by sickness that had come out of nowhere.  So many new questions and thoughts flooded my mind.  I began to acquire new perspectives most teenagers never obtain. 

The first two years of my life was the only time I had been given with my father and it left me with very little memory of him.  I thought about my father often, but the only recollection I had of him consisted in picture and stories my mom had shared.  But throughout this journey, I often wondered if I was sharing a similar experience that my father had gone through.  “Did my dad feel the same frustration I am feeling,” I often thought to myself.  I had always known my father passed away from liver disease, but never imagined I might go through a similar experience.

As my journey progressed I sank deeper and deeper into reality.  My blood work that revealed an abnormality was the first step into this new reality.  And then I had my first minor operation that forced me to take one step further down into reality.  My diagnosis had been given and my doctors began to discuss the possibilities that lay ahead.  They had promised every option would be considered to prevent me from having an organ transplant.  But as my health continued to deteriorate and my options had been exhausted, my doctors informed me of the inevitable – the last option I hoped I would never have to face. 

My liver was rapidly failing and my doctors had exhausted all of the alternatives to a liver transplant.  But as I began to go through the process to be listed on the national organ donor list I discovered a whole new hurdle we would have to overcome.  My insurance company informed me they wouldn’t allow me to have my liver transplant at the hospital I had been receiving care for over two years.  My parents went back and forth with the insurance company and even high-ranking government officials tried to plead my case.  But in the end the insurance company wouldn’t change their mind.

I was forced to transfer care to another hospital six hours away from home.  Frustration seemed to compound upon itself, but God is good.  It wasn’t long before I once again found myself in the hands of incredible doctors who were more than prepared to perform my surgery.  After going through the process again, I was placed on the organ donor list.  An incredible answer to prayer brought my liver transplant sooner than we had expected.

My surgery was a success and now, standing here fifteen years later, I can thankfully say I am alive and well.

To read more about my story visit www.atransplantedlife.com.