Lumberjacks Host "Show Your Heart" Night
April 1, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release
Have you ever wanted to save a life? Do you have what it takes to be a hero? If you do, the Muskegon Lumberjacks want to thank you!
"Show Your Heart" and receive a free ticket to the Muskegon Lumberjacks game on April 10th vs. the Flint Generals. To show their appreciation to those who have registered to be an organ donor, the Lumberjacks will give a free ticket to anyone showing their donor heart sticker on their drivers license.
The Lumberjacks held organ donor registrations at three games this season with the help of the Lakeshore Transplant Support Group. Over 200 fans signed up to give the gift of life during those three games! Those 200 people could be heroes for up to 10,000 people.
Be Lauren's hero. If you have been to a Lumberjacks game this season, you have undoubtedly seen her. Little Lauren Patulski, daughter of Lumberjacks' owner Stacey Patulski and his wife Michelle, is looking for someone to save her life. Lauren has biliary atresia, a rare liver disease, and will inevitably need a liver transplant. She wants your help.
Biliary atresia is a blockage of the ducts that carry the liquid known as bile from the liver to the gallbladder. The bile ducts help remove waste from the liver and carry salts that help the small intestine break down and digest fat. The bile is prevented from flowing from the liver to the gallbladder, causing damage and scarring of the liver, known as cirrhosis, and eventually liver failure.
There is no known cause. It only affects newborns. It is not hereditary, contagious, or preventable. Biliary atresia is rare. Approximately one in 15,000 to 20,000 babies do not have complete bile ducts. In the United States, about 300 new cases are diagnosed each year. Girls tend to develop the condition more often than boys.
Lauren was diagnosed with biliary atresia at three weeks old. Her parents were concerned that her jaundice, or yellowing of the skin, was not going away. Jaundice is common in newborns because their livers have not yet begun to function properly to clear bile from the blood. It typically disappears after a few days but not in Lauren's case.
The quick action of Lauren's doctor had her into specialists immediately. They rushed her in to surgery at DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids. There, the doctors performed a Kasai procedure, a surgery removing the gallbladder and damaged bile ducts and connecting the small intestine directly to the liver.
The Kasai procedure is not a cure for biliary atresia but does allow infants to grow and have fairly good health for a few years. Nearly half of all infants who have undergone the procedure will require a transplant before age 5. Eighty-five percent of all children with biliary atresia will need a liver transplant before they are 20 years old.
Lauren will soon be added to the transplant list. Show Your Heart Night is being organized in honor of her and all of those who have received or are waiting for a donor organ from their hero. The Lumberjacks would like show the urgent need right here at home for organ donors.
There are over 101,000 people in the United States on the organ transplant list at this moment. They are waiting for someone to save their lives. Nearly 28,000 transplant surgeries took place in the United States in 2008. Based on the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network data as of March 23, 2009, 3,042 people in Michigan are waiting for a donor organ. Forty of those are under 18 years old and sadly many of them will not see adulthood.
Registering to be a donor is easy. If you missed the registrations at the Lumberjacks games, you can stop by the Secretary of State Office and tell them you want to register to be a donor. You can also sign up online at www.michigan.gov/sos. Two simple ways that may give Lauren the gift of tomorrow.
On April 10th, the Muskegon Lumberjacks will pay tribute to all of those who are registered organ donors in Michigan with a free ticket to the game. A silent auction will be held during the game with all of the proceeds being donated to the Lakeshore Transplant Support Group.
Sign up to be an organ donor to save someone's life. Be little Lauren's hero.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from April 1, 2009
- Bloomington erases a nine game skid - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Boucher snags IHL Goalie of the Month - Fort Wayne Komets
- Komet President Michael Franke named IHL Executive of the Year - Fort Wayne Komets
- Smolinski Named Player Of The Month - Port Huron Icehawks
- Lange Earns Player of the Month - Kalamazoo Wings
- IHL Awards Monthly Honors For March - IHL 2
- IHL Announces 2008-09 Front Office Awards - IHL 2
- Lumberjacks Host "Show Your Heart" Night - Muskegon Lumberjacks
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