Morristown Liver Transplant Recipient Joins Team Liberty at Transplant Games of America

Liver transplant recipient and Morristown resident, Michele Dabal, will join more than 20 others from New Jersey at this year’s Transplant Games of America, which celebrate the life-saving value of organ and tissue donation.

The 2014 Transplant Games of America will be in Houston July 11-15.

Michele received the gift of life just after she was found to have serious liver failure. In 2005, Michele was hospitalized at University Hospital in Newark for a few days because of debilitating fatigue. Her liver was failing.  Soon doctors predicted she had less than 24 hours to live.

At that time, a man who was killed in an accident became a donor, giving Michele a second chance at life.

Since then, Michele has become involved in NJ Sharing Network’s Team Liberty. The team will participate in this year’s Transplant Games of America.

“These games show the world that organ donation truly saves and restores lives,” Michele said. “We want to honor the legacy of our donors and also show that organ donation really works.”

The Transplant Games of America is a multi-sport festival event that highlights the critical importance of organ, eye and tissue donation. Transplant recipients, living donors and donor families come together to honor those who gave the gift of life; and to celebrate those who received a second chance at life.

Michele competes in doubles tennis at the games. She has even won a bronze medal at the 2008 Transplant Games of America in Pittsburgh.

Team Liberty, a program of NJ Sharing Network,  the non-profit organization responsible for recovering organs and tissue  in Central and Northern New Jersey, comes together at the Transplant Games of America, and all year round, to promote the success of organ transplantation, and to raise awareness for the urgent need of organ and tissue donation. Nearly 5,000 people in New Jersey are waiting for life-saving organs.

Team Liberty honors the legacy and generosity of donors and their families. They come from New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Northern and Central New Jersey, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. The men, women, and children of Team Liberty embody incredible spirit, courage, energy, inspiration, humor, sportsmanship, and friendship.

To learn more, get involved and register as an organ and tissue donor, visit www.NJSharingNetwork.org or call NJ Sharing Network at 1-800-742-7365.

About NJ Sharing Network

NJ Sharing Network is a non-profit, federally designated organization responsible for the recovery and placement of donated organs and tissue for New Jersey residents in need of life-saving transplants. NJ Sharing Network partners with Donate Life America, a not-for-profit national alliance that drives communities to increase their numbers of registered donors. NJ Sharing Network honors those who gave, pays tribute to those who received, offers hope to those who continue to wait, and remembers the lives lost while waiting...for the gift of life.