Recent News

“Reflections of Life, Reflections of Love” was the theme of a remembrance ceremony scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Glacier Canyon Lodge Conference Center at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisc. The ceremony honored families whose loved ones gave the gift of life through tissue donation.

The event was held at 1 p.m. in the Wilderness Ballroom at the Glacier Canyon Lodge Conference Center, 45 Hillman Road.

Sponsored by RTI Donor Services in collaboration with the Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin, the ceremony was an opportunity for families to remember their loved ones who gave the gift of life through donation of tissue—skin, bone, heart valves, veins, corneas, tendons and cartilage—to save and improve the lives of others.

As a part of the program, donor parents Loni Wendt, and Bob and Diana Johnson shared stories of how tissue donation impacted their lives after both families lost their daughters in tragic car accidents. Loni described her daughter Melissa as her best friend and a very caring and compassionate young lady. Bob and Diana’s daughter Heather passed away just a short time after celebrating her 21st birthday. She was a devoted athlete and a friend to everyone she met. Both Melissa and Heather went on to become life-enhancing tissue donors, helping to improve the lives of more than 50 individuals.

Donated tissue is used in more than one million surgeries routinely performed each year in the United States. Donated bone can save an injured patient from amputation, and may aid in spinal, musculoskeletal, and fracture repair. Increasing numbers of surgeries use bone dowels, wedges, pastes, and pins as the implants of choice for tissue repair. Tissue is sometimes favored over metals and synthetics—which can weaken and stress adjoining bone—and the body usually adapts to the transplanted bone as if it were the patient’s own.

“We are pleased to honor the memory of so many loved ones who made the selfless decision to give the gift of life,” said Brenda Knighton, program director for RTI Donor Services, Midwest Division. “We were proud to remember and recognize them on this day.”

RTI Donor Services is a not-for-profit tissue recovery network dedicated to serving donor families and the donation community in perpetuating the circle of life. In addition to offering families the option of tissue donation, RTI Donor Services supports their wishes as a responsible steward of human donated tissue gifts and provides family services, as well as community information and awareness. Learn more about RTI Donor Services on the website www.RTIDonorServices.org.

###