As many of you know, my mother experienced advanced renal impairment last year and was on dialysis for six months. In mid-December, she received a successful kidney transplant, one of the best Christmas gifts ever, and has recovered superbly. To celebrate her donation's first anniversary, I will run the 2012 New York City Marathon to benefit the National Kidney Foundation, my third marathon and first 26.2-mile trip through my hometown. This is one of the best marathons in the world, and I'm so excited to have the opportunity to experience it. Since 1950, NKF has been dedicated to preventing kidney and urinary tract diseases, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by kidney disease and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation.
Where do you come in? For starters, please consider becoming an organ donor if you have not done so already. My goal is to convince at least 26 people to register as organ donors, one for every full mile. Need some motivation? Every month, more than 2,000 new names are added to the national waiting list for organ transplants, and about 18 people die every day while waiting for an organ transplant in the United States. Organ and tissue donation helps others by giving them a second chance at life. It's as simple as signing the back of your driver's license in most states. For more information on how to register, visit
NKF's Organ Donor information page.
Please let me know when you have registered so I can track it on the counter below.
More to come. Love your kidneys!!!!
