More advocating- Organ Donation Awareness

This past Tuesday I participated in another event, with the focus being organ donation/transplant awareness. According to http://www.beadonor.ca, only 25% of Ontarians are registered to be organ donors.  1 organ donor can save up to 8 lives, and save/dramatically improve the lives of 50 additional people. We had to get the word out.

We met up at a school in the Dufferin and St. Clair area where my Dad’s boss gave some encouraging words of thanks to all of the wonderful students who came out to support the cause. They all had signs and such, and it was amazing. After that, it was time to light the torch and start the walk.

While my brother and a few others walked, my Dad drove the truck and I spoke through the loud speaker, stating facts about organ donation as well as directing people to visit http://www.beadonor.ca as well as http://www.torchoflife.com. to those on the street on that beautiful day.  It was great, because as we passed by different schools, tons and tons of students lined the sidewalks, cheering, clapping, and holding signs.  They high-fived the walkers as the walked by. It was simply wonderful.

We ended up at City Hall where I spoke briefly of my experience both before and after my kidney transplant.  After that, the walk continued to Toronto General Hospital, then to Queens Park. It was a wonderful event. I hope that when the next event comes, I’ll be able to speak a bit more about my experiences as well as the importance of organ and tissue donation.

Below are some pictures and video of the event 🙂

Before the walk

Words From George Marcello

Pops and the boss

Myself, Papa, Khaled, the boss, big bro. and, of course, the torch of life!

Handing out high-fives

Walking with the Police bike escort

All smiles from Frank

Big bro with the torch!

What a turnout! That kid near the middle with the blue striped shirt giving me the thumbs out was soo awesome!

More waves and kudos from the students

Back to the walk

Another awesome reception from another school

How awesome are these kids?!?

Big bro with the torch

City Hall with some students that joined our walk along the way

City Hall

Media trucks

The truck I was in! 🙂

Something else cool is the fact that I tweeted this:

Lastly, here’s a short clip of some of the students that met us outside during out walk. It was soo amazing, honestly. The horn sound in the background is my Dad using the truck’s siren thing. 🙂