Donate Life Month Flag Raising Ceremony

(Barnesville Hospital photo)

Lifeline of Ohio ambassadors, Barnesville Hospital staff and a Lifeline of Ohio donation program coordinator were joined by a donor and recipient and members of the Barnesville Fire Department Wednesday morning to raise a Donate Life Month Flag at the Emergency Room entrance of the hospital.   

BARNESVILLE, OHIO – WVU Medicine Barnesville Hospital hosted a flag-raising ceremony on Wednesday, April 2, in honor of National Donate Life Month to raise awareness of organ, eye, and tissue donation.

 “Just last year, 169 people in our Central and Southeastern Ohio service area shared the gift of life through organ donation, and those generous gifts saved 608 lives,” April Lopez, donation program coordinator for Lifeline of Ohio, said during the event. “In addition, 549 tissue donors and 568 cornea donors helped provide healing for thousands.”

 Lopez also said behind those numbers are generous donors with their own life stories. Stories that can now continue through the lives of many grateful recipients.

Ann Marie Carley, a living donor and ambassador for Lifeline of Ohio, also spoke about donating her kidney in December 2022 to her father, John King, whose kidney disease had progressed to the point that a transplant was needed.

(Barnesville Hospital photo)

Ann Marie Carley, a living donor, and her father, John King, a donor recipient, proudly displayed the Donate Life Month flag at Barnesville Hospital Wednesday morning. 

“My donation story began the day I filled out my paperwork at the BMV, and at that time, I had no idea how much organ donation would become a part of my story,” she said. “I was the best chance my dad had for a low-risk rejection and, by providing that chance, my mom would have a better chance at having a healthy husband, my brother would have a healthier father, and my nephew and niece would have a healthier grandpa.”

(Barnesville Hospital photo)

Members of the Barnesville Fire Department assisted Barnesville hospital staff Wednesday when our flag was caught on the top of the flagpole. Pictured is Forest Corbett, Registration Specialist for Barnesville Hospital/Firefighter for Barnesville Fire Department, left, and Captain Bob Froehlich for Barnesville Fire Department.

In addition to the ceremony, an educational table and pinwheel garden are on display at Barnesville Hospital, and a donor memorial quilt will be on display April 11-21. To register as an organ donor, visit RegisterMe.org/WVUMedicine