NJ Sharing Network

At NJ Sharing Network, we have discovered there are so many stories to be told and so much to be shared about organ and tissue donation. This is a place where transplant recipients, donor families, patients waiting for a life-saving transplant, volunteers, NJ Sharing Network staff, community members and advocates can share their insights. To learn more about organ and tissue donation in New Jersey, visit www.NJSharingNetwork.org.


Wednesday, July 2, 2014

A Tale of Hope by Ron Oswick

I truly believe that fate brought my girlfriend, Tanya, and I together. We met four years ago, while we both worked at Morgan Stanley. It was then that I noticed the scar on Tanya’s chest. What Tanya later told me about the scar left me in disbelief.

Ron Oswick, Tanya Piccini
Ron and Tanya
 
Tanya had received a life-saving heart transplant. After suffering from a stroke at the age of 11, she was diagnosed with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy. After the stroke, Tanya was hospitalized for three months before her family was notified that a heart had become available. She had the transplant surgery shortly after at Columbia Presbyterian in New York City. Nineteen years later, she is doing well; she recently started a career in nursing, a life-long dream, at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York.

Since the beginning of our relationship, Tanya and I have participated in NJ Sharing Network’s Annual 5K Walk & USATF Certified Race every year as a way to celebrate her second chance at life and give hope to all those who continue to wait for a life-saving organ transplant.

I’m emotionally hooked. I’ve never really thought about organ donation much before I met Tanya. If it weren’t for someone donating a heart 19 years ago, I wouldn’t have the love of my life today.
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