CHL Mississippi RiverKings

Donation recipient will be honored at RiverKings game

Published on February 17, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN—Plumbing contractor Tim Mote recently got some modifications to his own internal plumbing as the jubilant recipient of a new liver, after waiting almost eight years for a donor.

Mote, owner of Tim Mote Plumbing in the Southaven/Horn Lake area, will be honored during the Memphis RiverKings game against the Colorado Eagles on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7:05 p.m. as part of "Mid-South Transplant Foundation Night."

"I'm just tickled, number one that I have a new liver, and number two that I can share my story with others," said Mote. "We had a donor fair at a college recently and a girl came up to us afterward and said, ‘I've never wanted to donate an organ before, but today when I saw what a difference it made in your life, I've changed my mind.'"

According to Lisa Peoples, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Transplant Foundation, the need for donors is critical. There are more than 90,000 people on the national waiting list; in the West Tennessee/Northern Mississippi/Eastern Arkansas area, more than 1,500 people await organ donation.

In 2004, just 32 people in the Mid-South area donated organs—obviously not enough to satisfy the great need.

"There's a huge shortage, here especially," said Mote's wife, Janet. "No one should have to leave this area to get a transplant. We need more donors."

KIX 106 deejay Brian Elder, who will drop the first puck on Friday, is a believer in organ donation. His mother decided to donate her husband's organs when he died. The Elders are in the process of meeting the recipients.

"It really helps the donor family to meet the recipients," Peoples said. "They get to see the miracle they had a hand in."

As for the Motes, the difference is "like darkness to daylight," says Janet. Tim suffered from non-alcoholic, non-hepatitis C liver disease, which kept him in a whirling round of emergency rooms, medicine and doctors for more than seven years, while his liver steadily deteriorated.

"He was going to die within a year," Janet said. "The best time to get a transplant is when you're first diagnosed because that's when your body is healthiest. But he never had to go to ICU. Within four days he was ready to leave the hospital. It's like God just came down and was with us every single minute.

"In fact, Tim feels that all this good stuff came about because God wasn't through with him yet, that He had some more things for Tim to do. His mission now is to share his experience with others. We feel everyone is worthy of living if they can and if we had enough organs, it wouldn't be an issue."

Both Motes volunteer for the Transplant Foundation, telling their story and dispelling misconceptions about organ donation—for instance, that the person is still alive when the organ is procured, which is not true—as well as helping others in the donation process.

"It's so important that you talk to your family about it," Janet said. "Your driver's license is not enough. It may not make it to the hospital, for one thing, and two, the family can override it.

"We are so thankful that someone cared enough to give like this. Tim has another chance at life. It's the most precious thing anyone can ever receive."

To find out more about organ donation, call Mid-South Transplant Foundation at 901-328-4438 or call toll-free, 1-877-228-5433. For more information about the RiverKings call 662-342-1755 or visit the Web at www.riverkings.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2005


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