Today's Stories

Melissa Salvador

After years of battling liver disease, Melissa Salvador was eventually told she had only a few months to live unless she received a transplant. As the months passed without a donor match, Melissa began making arrangements for her passing. "I called my pastor and spoke with my husband. It was time," she said.

But in 1992, Melissa received a second chance when a liver became available. After the transplant, she was determined to do everything possible to honor her donor's gift.

"As a transplant recipient, you never forget your donor," Melissa said. "I am alive to be a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and athlete because my donor's family was able to feel beyond the pain of losing someone."

Melissa qualified to participate in the 2004 U.S. Transplant Games. Not only did she compete, she was also named Female Athlete of the Year. In 2005 Melissa went on to participatein the World Transplant Games in Canada.

"It was the experience of a lifetime," Melissa said. "There are middle-aged, transplant recipient women all over the world running, swimming, cycling, and more. We rock!"

Donate Life Northwest urges people to designate themselves as a donor. Code your driver's license as donor, sign up on line at www.donatelifenw.org, or call 503.494.7888 or 1.800.452.1369 for a paper registry form. Please... share your decision with your family!