Lisa Hughes, Transplant Recipient

I hope and pray that I can pay it forward...

My name is Lisa Hughes, I am wife to a very active husband (triathalete), a mom to two wonderful step-children and have been a Critical Care RN for the past 20 years. As you can guess, I am on my feet a lot.

In 2004, I snapped my anterior cruciate ligament in my left knee. I was not sure what was going to happen. I was told that I completely severed the ligament, tore the entire lateral, and medial meniscus (cushioning) in my knee. I spent May and June off my feet letting the swelling go down and then I was told I could have a donor ligament replacement in my left knee in July. Luckily, I was able to return to work in September, and continue with my career and active life.

It really didn’t dawn on me till several years later that I had a tissue transplant, and if it wasn’t for someone being a registered donor or the family having the opportunity to have the option for their loved one, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have the replacement ligament for my knee. I hate to think about what might have become of my career if I wouldn’t have had the surgery. I realized it is more than organs that one person can help with when becoming a registered donor.

In the hospital where I work, I got involved with education regarding Donor Network of Arizona and having trained requestors at our hospital. Trained requestors give information to families on the option of their loved ones being a tissue donor after death. We took it one step further and joined the campaign with Donor Network to education the staff on registering to be a donor. We are now on to our third year in this campaign, and work working to educate the community around our hospital.

My donor who gave me back my ability to work in the best profession I have ever known………Nursing. I hope and pray that I can pay it forward so that others have the opportunity I have. I am a proud registered donor….Are you?