Thirty-six organ donors from WVU Medicine’s J.W. Rudy Memorial Hospital saved 113 lives last year, an increase of 28% from the prior year.
That milestone was celebrated Friday at the hospital with a Donor Advisory Group luncheon hosted by WVU Medicine and the Center for Organ Recovery and Education.
“Records were set in 2019,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE, based in Pittsburgh. “It takes an entire community, but leadership sets the tone for donation.”
Heather Mudrick of Bridgeport was the luncheon’s featured speaker.
In 2017, Mudrick, the mother of seven, was faced with a difficult decision. Her husband, Mark, had a seizure, fell and hit his head, sustaining an injury that proved fatal in November 2017. He had just turned 43.
“Mark was a man of faith and was always putting others’ needs ahead of his,” Heather told the luncheon gathering.
Mark Mudrick was also an organ donor. His heart, liver, kidney and lungs were donated to people awaiting transplants. His tissue was also donated for research purposes.
Heather said she was thrilled when she got to listen to Mark’s heart beat in the chest of Donnie Ott of Altoona, who received the organ.
“To hear Mark’s heart beat again was truly amazing,” she said.
WVU Medicine performed the state’s first heart transplant in early November on a Chesapeake, Ohio, man. WVU Medicine officials declined to disclose how many heart transplants have been performed since that time.
But, Michael Shullo, associate vice president of transplant services for WVU Medicine and leader of the WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance, said the hospital is on pace to do 10 to 20 transplants going forward.
“It allows WVU to become a destination and stay in close to home,” he said.
The hospital is also gearing up to begin performing kidney transplants, making it the second hospital in state to do the procedure. The Charleston Area Medical Center has been performing kidney transplants since the late 1980s.
TWEET @41Suzanne
