MEET OUR MANAGERS

Meet Matt Arrasmith, Team Ohio Manager and double tissue recipient. Matt’s connection to donation is a unique one. At the age of 14 he was very active and had just finished up the 8th grade football season. Matt had a goal of completing an upcoming half marathon and began training for it. It was at that time that he started to experience pain in his left knee. After visiting the doctor and undergoing tests, and an eventual biopsy, Matt’s world was turned upside down. A week after his 15th birthday Matt was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, called chondrosarcoma, in his left femur. He was told that he would have to undergo a round of surgeries and that it was possible that he could lose his leg at the hip.

There was a silver lining, however. Because the tumor was contained inside the bone there was a new procedure that could be performed to salvage Matt’s leg. It involved removing the 6-inch portion of bone containing the tumor and replacing it with donor bone, a titanium plate, and 32 screws. After two surgeries, the procedure was a success. Matt’s leg was saved because someone made the selfless decision to be a donor. 

Later, in 2011, Matt went on to have another 3 surgeries to address failing hardware that held the donor bone in place and received a second amazing gift of life, in the form of another donor bone. The idea that two families had to experience tragedy so that he could have a better quality of life is not something that is lost on Matt. “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about how different my life might have been without the kindness and generosity of two complete strangers and their families”, Matt said. 

While competing in his 4th Transplant Games in San Diego for Team Ohio in 2022, Matt took home gold medals in the golf competition, Texas hold’em poker, and in the darts competition. He is excited to attend his 5th Games when they are held in Birmingham, AL, in 2024. Matt shared his thoughts on what The Transplant Games mean to him, “It means so much to be able to meet new friends who have been through similar challenges and can relate to you. The Games also give us a great opportunity to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation and allows us to express our gratitude to our donors and their families for giving such an unbelievable gift.”

MEET OUR LIASONS

Meet Jenn Beckett, Team Ohio Donor Family Liaison.

Open Position, Team Ohio Living Donor Liaison.

Meet Mary Collins, Team Ohio Tissue/Cornea Liaison. Mary's story started many years before donation. At the age of 19 she was told her kidneys were damaged and she would have to take blood pressure medications for the rest of her life. At the age of 36 she was told her kidneys were failing and eventually would need dialysis or a kidney transplant. At the age of 37 she had decided on home peritoneal dialysis. She did that for 2 years then decided she wanted to pursue a transplant. April 24 1995 she received the Gift of Life, a kidney transplant. On November 29 2001 she received bone tissue in her neck due to a collapsed disk. Since receiving these transplants she met and married the love of her life Brian (1997), she was able to see both of her girls graduate from high school, see both of them get married and has been able to live to see and hold her grandchildren, like most grandmas love to do. The oldest is now 21 and the 4 year olds are girl/boy twins. When her daughter had the twins she donated their placenta to Lifeline of Ohio where they were able to make many skin grafts to help other people. In 1998 she went to the transplant games held in Columbus Ohio. She started volunteering for Lifeline of Ohio in 2000. She also attended the transplant games in Pittsburgh PA in 2008 and in Cleveland Oh 2016.

Meet Byron Clark, Team Ohio Minority & Diversity Liaison and Heart Transplant Recipient. Byron’s connection to donation began in 2014. In October 2014, after returning home from a Marriage Retreat, he was having trouble breathing and just didn’t feel well.  He laid down for a short time to see if it would improve, and it didn’t. His ankles had even begun to swell. Byron’s wife Debbie insisted on going to the Emergency Room. After a myriad of tests, the doctor came in and told him he had pneumonia, they were going to admit him, give him antibiotics, and he would be good to go in a few days. However, the Intern that was working with the doctor came in and told us that he didn’t believe Byron had pneumonia, but instead he believed Byron was in Congestive Heart Failure. Thank God for the Intern!! The Intern conversed with the head physician of the ER, and they admitted Byron and treated him. 

After months of him being in and out of the hospital treating his CHF, it was then that he received the daunting news from his Cardiologist that his heart only had a 35% ejection fraction, and they needed to refer him to another hospital for an evaluation to receive an LVAD (Left Ventricle Assistive Device). Upon being transferred and then evaluated for the LVAD, the Cardiothoracic Surgeon gave Byron an even dimmer report. By this time, his ejection fraction was only 15%.  As you might imagine, from a healthy man who had no history of heart disease in his family, this was quite a shock. On February 12, 2015, Byron received an LVAD which was explained to him and his family that this device was his “Bridge to Heart Transplantation.”

On June 22, 2016, Byron received “the call” from the University of Michigan that they had received a heart for him. The next day, Byron was transplanted with the “Gift of Life” and God blessed his youngest son with the birth of his son on the same day, 23rd of June.

Byron has been a part of Team Ohio since 2016, when he attended his first Transplant Games of America, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Byron has been married to his high school sweetheart Deborah since October 1978, and they have four sons and thirteen grandchildren.

“I am passionate about educating and encouraging people about Organ, Eye, and Tissue Donation.”

Meet Tammy Robinson, Team Ohio Donor Registration Liaison

Team Ohio Marketing Liaison

Email

General Inquiries
info@teamohio4life.org