U of I Hospitals Plant Trees for Transplants

Brooklyn Draisey

Columnist

                On Wednesday, April 22, the University of Iowa hospitals celebrated the year of the hospital’s 5000^th transplant by planting trees. The event was organized by Greg Johnson, Jody Johnson, and other members of the hospital staff. They planted five different trees for the five different major organs, which are the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and pancreas. They also planted a tree in honor of the donors who saved recipients’ lives by donating organs. The types of the trees were Bald Cyprus, which were chosen for their beauty and resilience.

 As of April 22, the hospital had successfully conducted 5,018 transplants. The most common type of transplant was for kidneys, and there have been 3,338 since 1969. There have been 785 liver transplants, 339 heart transplants, 146 lung transplants, and 69 pancreas transplants. There were also many people who required more than one organ transplant, like heart and lung or kidney and pancreas.

Before the actual planting, doctors, recipients and other officials spoke about their experiences with the hospital and organ transplants specifically. Jody Johnson, a psychologist that has worked with both donors and recipients, spoke about herself and told the stories of people who couldn’t make it to the event. She also read part of an email that was written by Michelle Draisey, my mother and the mother of Bryce Draisey, a student of Southeast Polk who passed away after getting a heart transplant in 2010. The family was invited to the event to be representatives of the heart transplant category. Recipients of lung and heart transplants also spoke about their experiences at the hospital.

For the planting, everyone wrote down a personal note on a piece of paper and buried them with the trees. Doctors, recipients and donors all helped to scoop dirt onto the trees’ roots and the notes. The ceremony was a beautiful one, perfectly balanced between somber and laid back. The ceremony was the best way to both celebrate the life given by transplants and the life taken away from donors.