Anne Gulotta
We’re proud to announce that Donate Life Illinois volunteer and donor family member Anne Gulotta will be representing Illinois on the 2010 Donate Life Rose Parade Float! You can check out some of the excitement that surrounds being a rider on the Float as documented on YouTube by our 2009 rider, Steve Ferkau.
Below is further detail on Anne’s personal tie to the issue and we look forward to having her in Pasadena!
-Scott
In May of 2002, Anne Gullota’s beloved husband Jay died tragically leaving her with the decision on whether or not he should be an organ and tissue donor. Because their children were of driver’s license age, the family had talked about donation so when the time came to make a decision about Jay, the family consented.
This is where the story could have just ended for Anne, but for this donor family, the story had just begun. Anne began volunteering for Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, sharing her story about the importance of organ and tissue donation by speaking to medical professionals, students and community associations. Her story has been featured in several publications and she is an active member of her local hospital’s Organ and Tissue donor Committee. In 2005 Anne won the Echo of Life Award from Gift of Hope for all her hard work.
In August 2005 Anne saw the full impact of donation when she met Julie, one of Jay’s kidney recipients. “To Julie, Jay is a hero because she would not be alive today if it wasn’t for his donation. The donation process is very important to the donor families as it is to the recipients. Recipients are given the gift of life. Donor families are given a lot too, because their loved ones live on.”
Although Anne lost her best friend, she has found a new friend in Julie. It was not just Julie’s life that was touched through Jay’s donation, but that of her husband, their family and friends. “Life is fragile and sometimes the decisions we are faced with in times of crisis are difficult to make,” said Anne. “Knowing that Jay lives on gives me strength to spread the word about organ donation.”
[...] to Me Back in August, we unveiled Illinois’ 2010 Donate Life Rose Parade Float Rider, Anne Gulotta. She will be paying tribute to her husband Jay, who was a donor in 2002 in addition to honoring [...]
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