Living organ donation way of life for Perryopolis family
Rachel Basinger/For the Observer-Reporter
Laura Vejan of Perryopolis recently donated a kidney to Sandy Evon of Star Junction. From left are Heather Evon (Sandy’s daughter), Sandy Evon, Laura Vejan and Amber Evon (Sandy’s daughter).
Submitted
Laura Vejan, left, of Perryopolis recently donated a kidney to Sandy Evon of Star Junction.
Rachel Basinger/For the Observer-Reporter
Laura Vejan, right, of Perryopolis recently donated a kidney to Sandy Evon of Star Junction.
Living organ donation and making the choice to save a life have become routine over the years for one Perryopolis area family, and just recently one of the family members was blessed to have an acquaintance make such a donation to her.
Tracie Sivak of Rostraver said the story began in 1981 when her oldest brother, Bobby Keefer, had his first kidney transplant.
“That first one came from a cadaver, and it lasted for 10 years before he had to have another kidney transplant,” said Sivak. “I donated my kidney to him in 1995, and that one lasted for 10 years. Then his wife, Debbie Keefer, gave him one before he passed away four years later.”
Ten years ago, her niece Amber Evon was diagnosed with focal segmental glumera sclerosis and also needed a kidney transplant at the age of 30. Her father, John Evon, donated one to her.
Just a few weeks ago, Sivak’s sister and Amber Evon’s mom, Sandy Evon of Star Junction, also had a kidney transplant.
She waited for about three years before Laura Vejan, a former neighbor of Sandy Evon and a member of her church, stepped up and was a match.
“I received a call from the transplant team that someone was tested and was a match – amazing news to hear after eight people prior to this had been tested in hopes of donating.
“You can’t have diabetes or high blood pressure or cancer or a neurological disease,” said Sandy Evon. “But there’s such a great need out there.”
A study on organ donation in America released by healthtestingcenters.com, shows the waiting list for organ transplants continues to grow, with Pennsylvania having the 20th longest wait time for organ transplants in 2018, with 11.7 percent of those in need waiting five years or longer.
In 2018, across the nation, there were 113,000 people on an organ waiting list, and 5,800 people died before receiving a transplant.
The study continued with other key findings, including:
- The number of people in need of an organ went from about 30,000 in 1992 to 120,000 last year.
- Nearly 2,200 organ donors were people who died from drug overdoses.
- Lung transplants had the shortest wait time with more than half on the transplant list receiving the organ in less than a year.
- The kidneys, liver and heart are the organs in highest demand.
- Less than one percent of potential donors actually donated their organs in 2018.
Sandy Evon added that even if a person has an organ donor designation on their driver’s license, it’s important that they talk with their family about their desire to be an organ donor.
Her donor, Vejan, said she’s known Sandy’s family since she was 5 years old, and she went to school with Sandy’s daughters before she moved away.
“I came back three years ago with my three children, and recently my mom mentioned that Sandy was looking for a donor, and so I called her coordinator,” said Vejan, who resides in Perryopolis. “I thought I’d at least try. I’d want someone to try for me.”
She put her faith in God when making the decision.
“I prayed that if God was leading me to help her, that there wouldn’t be any kind of stumbling blocks, that it would just flow with no issues,” Vejan said.
And that’s pretty much what happened.
“I just thought, how can I look at someone I know I can save and not even try,” she said.
Vejan thinks people get a tug on their hearts to help others but don’t always follow through.
“We base our decisions on fear, but you can’t let the fear of the unknown stop you from helping someone,” she said.
The transplant surgery for Sandy Evon and Vejan took place about three weeks ago, and Sandy’s daughters Amber and Heather Evon said they are grateful to Vejan for the new life she gave to their mother.
“Living donors have been so important in our family,” said Heather Evon. “Laura (Vejan) gave my kids and I more time with my mom and my dad gave my sister the opportunity to know my kids. She’s like a second mother to them now.”
“People think that if you’re on dialysis that you will be fine, but it’s actually a very low quality of life,” said Amber Evon.
Vejan said she would do the whole thing over again without any hesitation.
“If you have a radical faith, sometimes you’re called to do radical things – sometimes we just need to do more,” she said, adding that she didn’t do this for people to praise her. “I don’t want the focus on me. I want the focus on ‘look what God can do.'”
She added that if a person does the research, the donor isn’t really affected all that much.
“I can still ride a roller coaster, I can still have a baby, I can drink a glass of wine – I will still be able to live a very normal life, and now Sandy gets to live, too,” Vejan said.
Sandy Evon said she’s still in shock that she no longer has to go to dialysis.
“I still wake up at 4:30 a.m. because that’s just what I’ve done for the last three years,” she said.
“For an outsider to come in and do that for my mom is just really special,” said Amber Evon.
“People tend to live in the ‘what ifs’ and focus on the negative rather than focusing on ‘what if I can save a life and we can change the world,'” said Vejan.
For more information on being a living donor in the Pittsburgh area, visit the website of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center at https://www.upmc.com/services/transplant/patient-resources/education-support/donate-life or the website of Allegheny Health Network at https://www.ahn.org/Transplant.