FOR RELEASE: 2006-01-25

Texas Teen To Meet California College Coed Marrow Donor Who Saved His Life

Medical City Dallas Hospital — 17 year old Adrian Marin of Odessa is alive today and able to enjoy the simple things in life because of the unconditional giving of a volunteer donor on the National Marrow Donor Program ® (NMDP) Registry who gave him the gift of life. Adrian will have the opportunity to thank the California college student, Maria Nuñez, for giving him a second chance at life at 10 a.m. this Friday, January 27, at the offices of the Texas Oncology P.A. at Medical City Dallas Hospital when the NMDP, The Marrow Foundation, a partner of the NMDP, and Saturn bring them together as they meet for the first time at the national launch of Saturn National Donor Day. Dr. Carl Lenarsky, who performed the transplant, is also scheduled to attend. Former Dallas Cowboys defensive great Charles Haley is scheduled to join the event as well. In 1997 Haley’s then three year old daughter, Brianna, was diagnosed with leukemia. Thankfully, as of 2006, Brianna is in remission. In 1998 the Haley’s created the Brianna Haley Fund at The Marrow Foundation to encourage racially diverse Americans to join the National Marrow Donor Program Registry and to become marrow donors.

FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK NOW HEART TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT

LARRY LAWRENCE TO MEET HIS DONOR’S PARENTS

Former Iowa Hawkeye and NFL quarterback Larry Lawrence, who played for the Raiders and Buccaneers (1974-1976), is alive today and able to enjoy the simple things in life because of the incredible generosity of a donor family who gave him the gift of life. Lawrence is scheduled to meet and thank the parents of his donor at 10 a.m. this Friday, January 27, at the offices of the Texas Oncology P.A. at Medical City Dallas Hospital. Pam Silvestri of the Southwest Transplant Alliance will moderate the meeting. There are over 90,000 patients on the Transplant Waiting List (over 6,000 in Texas alone) and while organ transplants save thousands of lives every year, even more lives could be saved if more Americans made the decision to donate the gift of life.

The Medical City Dallas Hospital press event will help kick off the awareness of Saturn National Donor Day, an annual campaign which calls upon every American to commit to lifesaving donation including not only marrow and organ, but blood. Since 1998, Saturn retailers have held over 1,600 community donor drives nationwide. These drives have added over 10,000 potential marrow donors to the Registry, collected over 116,000 pints of blood and informed millions of Americans of the need for organ and tissue donors.

Blood transfusions save 10,000 Americans every day. As part of the Saturn National Donor Day initiative, Dallas/Fort Worth and Waco Saturn retailers have partnered with Bedford-based

Carter BloodCare, collecting over 22,000 units of blood in 2005 making it one of the most successful Saturn blood drive campaigns ever. This year, Saturn and Carter BloodCare have partnered again with “Key Players for Life,” a six week blood drive that will reward one lucky blood donor with the keys to a 2006 Saturn VUE. Dr. Merlyn H. Sayers, Carter BloodCare President/CEO and President of America’s Blood Centers notes, “The winter months are often a difficult time for the blood supply, but patients rely upon transfusions every day. We salute Saturn for its dedication to raising awareness of the lifesaving importance of blood donation through this exciting campaign.”

Representatives of Medical City Dallas Hospital, the National Marrow Donor Program ®, Carter BloodCare and Southwest Transplant Alliance will be available to speak with the media at Friday’s event. Adrian Marin and his marrow donor, Maria Nuñez, and their families will be available for one-on-one media interviews in both English and Spanish.

Time : 10am, Friday, January 27, 2006

Place : Medical City Dallas Hospital

7777 Forest Lane

Dallas, TX 75230

Building “D,” Texas Oncology P.A., Fourth Floor (follow the signs)

Access off Merit Drive on the north side of the Hospital complex

Hospital Contact: Susan McBee

972 566-7032

[email protected]

Saturn National Donor Day is believed to be America ’s largest annual donor drive. Seventeen national nonprofit partners as well as hundreds of local blood banks and other community health organizations help to make Saturn National Donor Day possible. The national nonprofit partners include: American Association of Blood Banks, American Liver Foundation, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, America’s Blood Centers, Associations of Organ Procurement Organizations, Children’s Organ Transplant Association, Coalition on Donation, Emergency Nurses Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America, LifeSouth Community Blood Centers, The Marrow Foundation, National Kidney Foundation, National Marrow Donor Program, National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program, United Network for Organ Sharing and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Wow, that's amazing. I take back exactly half of all the bad things i ever said about Saturn. :AH-HA_wink:

... i think this is good publication... saturn is positioning themselves as the green hand of GM...

My very first week at my dealership i asked my boss if we ever had blood drives to drive in additional customers, he laughed... and thought about it... said its a different idea, but i never heard anything more...

i know i need to give blood now... but... where to go?

Edited January 26, 200620 yr by Newbiewar

Unless there is a blood drive, you need to call and make an apointment.

click here for good info?

Edited January 27, 200620 yr by haypops

go saturn!