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EPR Archived News |
WAR VETERANS DONATE ORGANS TO IRAQI CHILDREN MAIMED IN WARReleased on = April 28, 2005, 12:11 pm Press Release Author = VETERAN ORGAN DONORS INTERNATIONAL Industry = Healthcare Press Release Summary = WAR VETERANS UNITE TO HELP SAVE LIVES OF OVER 3,000 IRAQI CHILDREN INJURED BY WAR. Press Release
Body = Veteran Organ Donors International April 28, 2005 P R E S S R E L E A S E IRAQI CHILDREN
FIND NEW HOPE AND LIFE IN CANADA But VODI founder and Chairman Bruce A. Gorcyca, says “they are the lucky ones – 867 other kids died in these two wars”. Gorcyca, a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard himself will be donating one of his kidneys, a section of his liver, and bone marrow to save the lives of three children, all under the age of 18. As he explained “The kids of Iraq lost much more than just a war. Many of them lost their parents, their homes, their belongings, and even their limbs. We don’t want them to lose hope for their future as well”. Thanks to three
interviews on BBC radio programs, the group has already received
organ donor pledges from twelve donors in the U.S., Canada, and
the U.K. but only Some in the medical community are stunned by the group’s bold recruitment drive but as one VODI volunteer asks “Most of us would not stand by and watch a child burn in a house fire or drown in a lake, so why is this any different”? Is the life of an Iraqi child any less important or valuable than the life of an American or British child? Like Pope John Paul II said “The greatest sin is indifference”. Bone marrow has truly become a treasured commodity in Iraq since the cancer
(and birth defect) rates have almost doubled in the last decade
due to the extensive use Gorcyca readily concedes that the Iraqi children were not deliberately targeted by military forces but quickly retorts that “the pain, agony, and misery inflicted upon these children, makes no distinction as to cause nor motive. Imagine coming home from work one day only to find your home in a smoldering ruin of rubble and your five-year old son, daughter, or grandchild missing a limb, or screaming with burns covering 50% of their bodies. There is no greater agony for any parent”. Gorcyca who is 50 years old and himself a father, said it was his role as a father that compelled him to form the volunteer organization in 2004. Many in the
U.S. see the group’s actions as a public protest but Gorcyca
replies “The time for protest has passed , the damage has
already been done. This is about compassion, humanity, and reconciliation.
We want Iraqis to know that not every American is an arrogant bully
who only gets their way at the end of a gun barrel. I VODI volunteers are now actively recruiting other veterans around the world by phone, fax, and e-mail. Gorcyca hopes that his own donation will motivate others to step forward and do the same and he hopes to open VODI chapters in New York, Florida, California and the U.K. within the next three months. The grass root organization receives no funding from any government and is funding their efforts from their own pockets. They did however ask a major airline to donate round-trip airfares for the children who will have to fly into Toronto for the transplants since they have neither the facilities nor expertise in Iraq. Two local Hotels have already offered to donate thirty days of free accommodations for the children and a guardian. Reaction in Iraq has been a mixture of disbelief, gratitude, and in one case, anger when the uncle of an Iraqi boy refused to accept a bone marrow transplant from an “infidel”. But Gorcyca says he empathizes with the rage and contempt most Iraqis now feel towards the west. “We’re not trying to save the world – just the lives of a few children”.
Web Site = http://www.VeteranOrganDonors.org Contact Details
= Liz Whitley, PR Director
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