- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Here when you need us most.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Making a difference.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Working for a more a healthier, more equitable New Jersey.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The Fidelco Group.

Valley Bank.

PSC.

Where your story is our business.

And by Kean University.

Where Cougars climb higher.

Promotional support provided by Meadowlands Media.

A print and digital business news network.

And by Northjersey.com and Local IQ.

Part of the USA Today Network.

- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it'’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

-_ It'’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it'’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi, everyone, Steve Adubato with my on-air colleague and the Executive Producer of "Remember Them" as well as "Think Tank," Jacqui Tricarico.

Jacqui, let's set this up.

This is a half-hour special that we're doing on the New Jersey Sharing Network 5K event, The Celebration of Life.

Talked to all kinds of important, impactful people, who are tied to organ and tissue donations.

Set it up for us.

- It really was, Steve, another incredible year that you and I got to be a part of.

This event's been going on since 2011, and you and I have been there for many years now together, being able to talk to so many people who are so generous to share their stories with us.

And we talked to organ and tissue donation families, families of those who passed away, and their family members decided to give the gift of life.

We spoke to living donors and as well as donor recipients, all willing to share their stories and describe their experience, all in an effort to really raise awareness and advocate for organ and tissue donation.

- Couple things, Jacqui, and correct me if I'm wrong on this, there are 4,000 New Jersey residents waiting for a life-saving organ.

- Correct, yeah.

- And by the way, let's put up the #DonationNeedsDiversity because we talked a lot in this half hour special about the minority community and the fact that the number of minority residents who need a transplant is significantly higher than the minority population, the Black and Brown population in the state.

Also, in 2001, 283 people donated organs in New Jersey, resulting in 670 organs transplanted.

- Yup, that was back in- - That's an all-time high.

- Yeah, 2021, that was an all-time high and the organization talks about it as Jersey generosity, I loved that saying, and they're continuing to even go above and beyond that with their efforts in years to come to really just keep bumping up those numbers and showing how important it is to become an organ and tissue donation to save lives.

Through such tragedy, something beautiful can come out of it.

And we spoke to so many people who describe that personal experience in great detail.

- For those of you who know our programming, you know that organ and tissue donation, creating greater public awareness, has been a top priority of ours in cooperation with the New Jersey Sharing Network.

So for Jacqui Tricarico, myself and our entire team, this is a half hour special about the gift of life, that's really important, check it out.

How you doing today?

- It's great.

Exciting.

- Okay, so we should let everyone know, it's a little bit after seven in the morning.

There are thousands of people coming here to New Providence for this annual 5K.

Talk about it.

- It's amazing.

You could feel the energy here already.

5K, it's more than a 5K.

It's celebration of life.

To bring donor families, recipients, our hospital partners, those that are waiting for a lifesaving transplant and everyone that advocates for organ and tissue donation to one place to remember and to honor and to give hope.

- The people we're about to interview today, some have family members who are no longer with us who gave the gift of life.

Others are living donors.

Others are recipients and their family members.

Those stories, it sounds like a cliche, not only never get old, but they're more inspiring and powerful than ever before.

That's for me as a journalist.

What's it like for you?

- Every story is new.

It's fresh.

Every person, everything about them, learning about them and really helping their family to continue the legacy.

Most families will say, "I don't want them to be forgotten."

So we remember them.

Their names are on our walls.

We walk the halls every day when we get up to come to work and we read someone's name and we remember the life and the legacy that they have left behind and then for those that are waiting, giving them hope, saying, "We are working for you every single day to make sure that you have the best chance to get an organ to save your life."

- Set this up.

Why are we doing this together?

- Do you want to share that?

(Chris and Victor laugh) - No, seriously.

Two of you are partners.

You work together.

- I think that one of the reasons is that we were both on the board for a long time together, but my very first 5K here in New Providence it was about five weeks after Luke had passed away.

- Tell everyone about Luke.

- [Chris] Luke, 15 years old.

Incredible, incredible spirit.

Wonderful kid.

It's been seven years since he passed now.

It's weird.

I actually, you know, I broke down yesterday.

It never goes away, but this has been my therapy to get involved with the Sharing Network and really talk about all the good that sharing your organs can do.

And I saw that literally the first time we came here, five weeks after he died, because I met Victor's son, who had 10 years earlier at that point received a heart transplant.

And I was like, this is the first time I ever met anybody that actually benefited from an organ donation.

And it just kind of brought things full circle for me.

And it was amazing.

I think he was starting his first job the next day.

He had just graduated.

And they had some exciting news recently with his son.

- [Steve] Your son, Jack.

- Yes.

- So you guys meet.

Do you remember that time?

First time?

- Oh, no doubt.

I'll never forget it.

I had seen Chris speaking online and I was just amazed at the poise he had such a short time after Luke's passing.

And we met and the hug that he and my son Joe had was just something I will never, ever forget.

- Tell us about Joe, 'cause he did have something really great happen in his life, in all of your lives.

- Joe, when he was 12, went into cardiac arrest, because of having an enlarged heart.

Coded, was revived, actually the nurse who revived him is on our team today, walking with us.

And got a heart transplant 17 years ago in July.

- Well, wait, wasn't there an event recently?

- Joe just got married.

- Don't just skip over that.

Tell us about that.

- This past weekend, my family moved up to Maine for the weekend.

Joe got married.

He's now 28 years old and graduated college.

Went on to live a full life so far.

Thanks to his donor Natalie and donor families, like Chris, he's thriving.

Why do you think people become so passionate about the mission and giving back and raising the money for this event?

- So, as you said, Jacqui, our 5K Celebration of Life is in its 13th year.

And each year the energy just comes back fuller and fuller.

It's a beautiful mission to be a part of.

I'm always so inspired by the resilience of the donation and transplant community who come out to honor and celebrate their loved ones year after year.

It's such a special thing to do and to honor the legacy.

And, you know, our tagline is that we come together to honor, to remember, and to give hope.

And that's exactly what we feel here today.

- Because that's who we have here today, thousands of thousands of people from all different spectrums of this donation journey, right?

The donors, the recipients, the families, living donors, all coming together for this one cause.

Talk about, though, the financial impact of this event, and where does that money go?

- So our foundation supports the work of New Jersey Sharing Network.

And we do that through supporting philanthropic programs through clinical advancement, family support for organ and tissue donor families, transplant recipients, and through public education and awareness programs, such as our 5K, which is our biggest awareness event each year.

This year, so far, we've actually just surpassed $1.5 million for this year's campaign.

And, you know, those dollars are what's gonna keep powering our efforts and leading us to providing the gift of life.

- In 2019, a parents... as a mother, a parent's worst nightmare.

- Worst nightmare.

- Happened to you.

- Yes.

- And your husband.

- Yes.

- Talk about that day.

- Yeah, I was in bed actually and he, you know, he got up early that morning.

He gets up early every morning to go to work, and was with his father in the morning, having their coffee and off they went.

I got a call from one of his buddies and I thought, you know, "Good morning, Brody, what are you doing?"

And, he said, "Mrs. Rodimer," he says, "Tyler had an accident."

And when he told me they were airlifting him to Morristown, I thought, "Oh my god."

I said, my immediate reaction was his head.

And sure enough it was.

So, it was a horrible day.

Didn't know if he'd make it through the night.

And that dear boy, he lasted two months in the ICU.

Many surgeries.

We always had hope that everything would turn out.

And one day, actually it was on his birthday, March 4th, one of the doctors came in and he said, "You know, Tyler may never wake up."

We're like, "Are you kidding me?"

So, there's a lot of painstaking conversations with doctors, and clergy, and your family, and you know, what do you do?

But the bottom line was, he would not have wanted to live the way he was living.

So, it was a terrible decision for a parent to make.

But it was when we had to make.

- And Talk about who he helped.

- Oh my gosh.

- Who did he help?

- He helped two women with his kidney donation, both kidneys, and a man with his liver.

And then since then we found out that he helped two people with genetic disorders with his heart valves, and 16 women with his skin donation.

12 of them, women with mastectomies that needed skin to heal.

That's just beautiful.

It's a beautiful legacy he left, for me, you know, to honor.

When you're in this terrible group of people that lose their children, which I am, a lot of people don't have a beautiful story and I do.

I have a legacy to honor and I do this every year.

And some of those people come and they, it's just, it's awesome.

- We're joined by Chris Bryant, a two-time kidney and pancreas transplant recipient.

How you doing?

- Well, thanks for having me.

Well, I'm doing feeling great.

I'm feeling awesome.

The kidney's doing well.

My journey started when I was 16 years old.

And I was diagnosed with type one diabetes.

That's been 35 years ago.

So that was quite a bit of time ago, in the late '80s.

And I realize now that I didn't accept that I had diabetes.

And I didn't know what kidney disease was, but you know, I've learned really quick when I had to start dialysis.

And what's interesting is that, when I started dialysis, that was my first real wake-up call that I need to manage this diabetes.

And what happened was, my wife went into work and she kinda mentions that, you know, Chris is not doing so well.

And a few days later, one of her coworkers approached her to say that she wanted to be tested to see if she wanted to be a donor.

- For you?

- For me.

She was a stranger to me.

I didn't know her.

She was just a coworker of my wife.

Not even a friend.

Eventually, after we went to the testing, you know, we were saying, "If you don't wanna do it, that's fine.

If you don't wanna do it, that's okay."

She was dead set on giving me her kidney if she was a match.

Guess what, she wound up being a perfect match.

And then we set up a date to do the transplant.

The transplant, relatively speaking, was a walk in the park.

She was fine.

They took out the kidney laparoscopically.

- Right.

- And they put it into me.

And the next day, we're talking.

A day later, she goes home.

Two days later, I go home.

And we were fine.

You know, I often say that I have five sisters, but after that transplant, I now have six.

She's my angel and my hero.

- Gift of life.

- Gift of life, that's what she gave me, the gift of life, gave me a second chance at life.

It's 1987.

And you're diagnosed.

Now you're pregnant at the time.

- Yes, mm hmm.

- Tell everyone about that experience.

- Well, I was excited, newly married, had the job of my dreams, was pregnant with my first child, and had an ultrasound.

And that's when I was told that I had a rare genetic disease called autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, known as ADPKD.

And the discouraging part of it all is, I was told that there was simply nothing they could do and that I would eventually be transplanted.

Here I am, you know, getting ready to start my life.

So basically, I just kinda, you know, after I got over the devastation of it all, I just kinda packed it all inside and went and did my thing and lived my life.

And that was not the correct thing to do.

- Not?

- Not, mm hmm.

- So what happens that your life is turned in a more positive direction through the gift of life?

- Mm, well, I honestly believe God saved me through my angel donor.

- That's somebody who's giving me the gift of life through a kidney.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

Oscar, 31 years now with this organization.

I think that really speaks volumes to your passion for what you're doing here at the Sharing Network Foundation.

Talk a little bit about your role here.

- Well, my role currently as the Manager of the Recovery and Research is I oversee a department, and these are staff that go on site when there's an actual donor to do the recovery of the organs and tissues, and for research also.

- So talk about that whole system of going into the hospitals and speaking with these families.

I mean, they are going through the worst moment in their life, and being able to approach them and have those sensitive conversations with them to still be passionate about what is going on in their life.

Talk about that and how you train your staff and how you go about that.

- Well, the staff goes through an extensive training to talk to families.

It is the worst moment in a family's life when they lose a loved one.

But if you have somebody there that can guide them, and be empathetic, and be there for the family, it makes a huge impact, 'cause a lot of people do not want to deal with death and dying.

And for us to be there and be able to be with that family, it gives us the opportunity to have that bond and experience unique with the family.

Talk about, though, the diverse communities that you serve.

Because I know in the hospital system you're often there, and sometimes you're translating for families, for like the Latino community.

Talk about diversity and the #DonationNeedsDiversity.

- Correct, in our community, especially the Latin community, there is an increased need for organ donors and tissue donors, primarily because of the comorbid factors of diabetes and end stage renal disease.

So it is very important when we go into our communities to help them understand what that need is and the impact that they can have on other people's lives by thinking about organ and tissue donation.

- When it comes to the question of organ and tissue donation in the minority community, education is more important than ever before.

There's a disproportionate number of the 4,000 people in New Jersey waiting- - Absolutely.

- Who happen to be African American.

- Mm hmm.

- What message do you have to others who in the minority community say, "Well, I'm not sure about it.

I have questions.

I don't trust the medical and health care system."

What would you say to them?

- Well, the first thing I would do is open up with a question.

And I'd ask 'em, why don't you trust?

I would ask, you know, and let them talk about it.

And then I would identify the truths behind the lack of trust, if you will.

There, you know, history dictates, you know, why particularly African Americans are not really trusting in the medical system.

And that's one of the areas that I work to close that gap relative to understanding, you know, why it's important to get into treatment, why it's important to own your disease state.

And you know, not necessarily just take what a physician says.

A comfort level is you tracking your disease state, asking the questions, and getting your answers.

And with that, we get better outcomes.

With that, we close that gap of health care disparity.

- So first, tell us what MTF Biologics is.

- Sure, MTF Biologics is a nonprofit organization.

What we do is we process the tissues that are donated into the grafts that are implanted into patients.

- And so we're talking tissue donors, a lot of the times, and we're so lucky we get to speak to so many people today about organ donation and we touch upon tissue donation, but we don't explore it as much.

Talk about the tissue, what the tissues are normally used for, some of the bigger operations that they're used for.

- Sure, so let's talk about first, what kind of tissues can be donated.

So first, you can donate bones and related soft tissues, like ligaments and tendons, you can donate skin, and you can also donate your heart for valves, for heart valve surgery.

And typically for bone, it's mostly an orthopedic surgery, so lots of orthopedics and spine surgery.

So for example, if you tear a tendon, you can have that tendon replaced with donor tissue.

If you need a spinal fusion, typically the surgeon will need bone to be able to fuse your spine.

Um, if you are having...

If a woman's having a mastectomy, and we have that so often with breast cancer, we know so many people touched by that, if you have a mastectomy, the patient can have their breast reconstructed after surgery using donor skin.

So those are just a few of the ways that we can provide tissue grafts for patients that need them.

- Describe the partnership though between you and the Sharing Network here at the 5K today and the partnership between you two is just so important, right?

Especially when we're talking about these donor families and how important it's to support them and honor them.

- It really is.

So we have a really special relationship with the Sharing Network.

We work with about 30 organizations like the Sharing Network around the country, but with the Sharing Network, it's really special, because we're based here in New Jersey also, like the Sharing Network, and like them, we were both started in 1987, so we literally grew up together in this field, and so we've been supporting them over the years as they support us over the years, and so we've been involved in this 5K race since the very beginning and are very proud sponsors and so happy to be here and participate.

Donna, you've been with the organization for a really long time.

It's not just a professional mission for you, but it's a personal mission.

Tell us about that.

- So my journey started at MTF, first in the donor services division, which is where I learned about donor families and recipients, and the importance of educating the public about organ and tissue donation.

And I was at MTF for quite a while, and my husband was transferred up to Maine, where we moved up there for about 14 years.

And while up there, my husband had said that the only way to survive the winters in Maine was to learn to ski.

So my first day out on the slope, I took a tumble, and I tore my ACL, so I decided to have the procedure.

I called MTF and asked them which surgeon I should use, 'cause I wanted MTF tissue, because I knew it was the best of the best.

- Right.

- And so I was able to have my journey, actually documented.

My surgeon was kind enough to know how important it was to me about sharing the journey about the donor family, and the recipient, and all that goes behind it.

So I ended up having the procedure, and was able to get full range of motion.

And when I went back to work, I remember the first time I bent down to tie one of my resident's shoes and he thanked me.

And I actually got a little bit emotional, because I felt like, "I hope that I'm paying it forward," because when he thanked me, I was actually thanking my donor for being able to pay it forward.

- Yeah.

Tell everyone the connection between you, your company and this terrific event.

- Yeah, my sister Kathleen, she was diagnosed with lupus erythematosis when she and I were juniors in high school 35 years ago.

- [Steve] Mm.

- And that led to her eventually needing a kidney transplant.

So back in 1984, I donated my kidney to her.

She subsequently lost that kidney, got a cadaver kidney, went to Minnesota, had that surgery, and then unfortunately lost that kidney and our brother donated a kidney to her.

So she was a three time kidney transplant recipient from, you know, two family members and one from a cadaver.

She, unfortunately, she passed in 1999, complications of all the things that were going on.

- The Installation Donation Program.

- Right.

- Describe it.

- So, every time we put a system in, we set aside a certain amount of money, and at the end of the year, we presented a check just recently, for $29,500 - [Steve] Wow.

- to the associate, excuse me, to the foundation.

- What's that like?

- It's awesome.

It feels so good to give back to the community and then to be connected to it really personally.

My 85-year-old mom's gonna be here later today, 'cause she wants to see what's going on here and she, I know she's so happy that my sister's memory lives on and that my brother and I, you know, have an opportunity to give back to the community as well.

So it's a great feeling.

You then went to your school and said, "I wanna start this club here, Donate Life Club."

Talk about that, what is it?

- Yeah, so Donate Life Club is it club at my school, it's about 22 member club.

And our mission is to, again, similar to NJ Sharing, raise awareness about organ and tissue donation.

One thing that was really important for me was raising awareness amongst teenagers like myself, right?

Because you know, we're gonna grow up, we're gonna be the adults of tomorrow and it's really important that we have all the information necessary to make an informed decision when deciding whether or not to actually become an organ donor and register.

So that was one of my main missions when starting this club.

And I think it was kinda just born from that desire to bring awareness to my peers.

And then we started this club, it's our first year but we've done a lot of really cool stuff.

Set up informational booths, done 5Ks like this one, raised money, so it's been really cool to kinda share my passion with other people and see them get involved as well.

- And what has been the reaction from your peers on this?

Because like you said, 17, that's typically when people go and get their license, get their driver's license for the first time.

Getting them to realize how important it is to consider checking that box to be an organ and tissue donor.

Talk about the response from your peers and your school.

- Yeah, so it started right off the bat with our informational session that we had to generate interest for the club.

You know I got a lot of just stares, a lot of like, "What are you talking about?"

Which I completely understand because that would've also been my reaction.

So I was really happy to kinda sit down and dispel those myths for people because I know that people have a lot of apprehensions about organ donation, a lot of questions.

So right off the bat there was a lot of that going on which was again, completely natural and I completely understood.

But I was really glad that I was the one that was able to kind of sit down and explain to them like this is not as daunting as it seems.

It's not that scary.

It's really easy to get involved even if you don't personally wanna become an organ owner, there's tons of other ways to support those who are organ donors and recipients.

And so, I think over time the reception to this club has been much better because I think people are becoming more aware, hopefully because of our efforts, they'll be more open to this idea in the future as well.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The Fidelco Group.

Valley Bank.

PSC.

And by Kean University.

Promotional support provided by Meadowlands Media.

And by Northjersey.com and Local IQ.

- Are you looking to be a part of a dynamic, forward-thinking business service organization?

At Meadowlands Chamber, every day we connect, collaborate and innovate, helping to drive business and economic growth in the greater Meadowlands and New Jersey.

I invite you to visit our Meadowlands Chamber headquarters, an open office facility with access to resources for our members' businesses and networking needs.

Together, we will build the chamber of the future, and the next generation of leaders.