The former Dallas Cowboys player didn’t lose his bond with his former teammates just because he retired. Walls donated a kidney to Ron Springs, making Springs the first U.S. professional athlete to undergo an organ transplant.
Source: Espn.go.com
Kravinsky might not have been a huge name—he is an investor and philanthropist—but his story of organ donation made him famous. Kravinsky donated one of his kidneys to a complete stranger—a person struggling to get a donation from a family member. Kravinsky’s altruism is really worrying his wife because now he’s talking about donating his other kidney (which would kill him) if he knew the recipient could do more good in the world than Kravinsky could. The photo above is a sample chart of an organ-donor registry and wait list.
Source: Nytimes.com
Charles Cullen saved, took and then again saved lives. The serial killing nurse who admitted to killing 29 of his patients donated a kidney to the relative of one of his former girlfriends. Cullen donated the kidney after being convicted—he talked his way out of the death penalty into life in prison.
Source: Nytimes.com
Before she died in a tragic skiing accident, actor Richardson agreed to be an organ donor. Three of her organs were donated. Husband Liam Neeson, star of “Taken,” said he is proud that his wife was an organ donor: she helped keep three people alive.
Source: Mirror.co.uk
The ’80s TV star died on the set of the show “Cover Up” from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound. Hexum donated organs that have improved and saved the lives of several people. Doctors harvested five organs from Hexum — both corneas, both kidneys and his heart. Some of Hexum’s skin was also donated.
Source: News.google.com
Baltimore Ravens president Dick Cass donated one of his kidneys to a friend from law school in 2006. Cass received the Donate Life Champion Award, an honorable award in the athletic community, in 2014.
Source: Baltimoreravens.com
Gnocchi was one of the most beloved priests in Italy, receiving praise from the Pope after his death. Gnocchi founded the Don Gnocchi Foundation for disabled children and when he died he donated both of his corneas to children.
Source: TheFlorentine.net
The retired Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks player donated a kidney to his 33-year-old daughter who was sick with lupus. Her kidneys were failing due to the illness, and the waiting list for a kidney was tens of thousands of people long.
Source: People.com
Portuguese actor and singer Vieira died in a car crash when he was just 28 years old. Vieira was in the hospital for three days with injuries before he died. Upon his death, his body was harvested for his liver, pancreas and kidneys.
Source: Baklol.com
A Utah senator at the time, Jake Garn donated a kidney in 1986 to his 27-year-old daughter. She was suffering from kidney failure just 16 months after giving birth to a baby girl. Garn was the first sitting member of the U.S. Congress to go into space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a payload specialist during a 1985 NASA mission. Garn is pictured in the top right of the photo above.
Source: Nytimes.com
