New mission for family of face transplant donor
The family of Joseph Helfgot, the Brookline man whose face was donated in April for New England's first face transplant, is taking its campaign to raise awareness about organ donation to a national audience.
In an e-mail sent today to family and friends, Susan Whitman, Helfgot's widow, said the family will be joining the fund-raising efforts of a California-based nonprofit, OneLegacy, for the organization's Donate Life Float at the Rose Bowl Parade this New Year's Day.
OneLegacy is one of dozens of nonprofits nationwide designated by the federal government to help coordinate organ donations. The Helfgot family lived for years in Los Angeles, and a company Josesph Helfgot started in 1985 is today one of Hollywood's leading market research firms.
The e-mail form Susan Whitman reads in part:
"Joseph Helfgot's life and legacy will be honored on the Donate Life Float in the Rose Bowl Parade New Year's Day, 2010. Our family will be in Pasadena to commemorate this important event and help spread awareness about organ donation. This year's float depicts a phoenix rising from the ashes--a fitting metaphor for this child of holocaust survivors who became the first man in the United States to donate his face in a life giving act of justice.
In Massachusetts alone, less than 50% of eligible donors have signed organ donation cards. This float will help bring the plight of those awaiting organs to the more than 20 million viewers world wide."
Whitman's e-mail directs readers to OneLegacy's site for donations.
Her e-mail concludes:
It is too late for Joseph, and for many others. But your gift may help save one more life. We are honored by Joseph's many friends who have already honored his memory and wish you and yours a very blessed and peaceful New Year in 2010.
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Elizabeth Cooney is a former
health reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, where she also was a
business reporter and an editor. Earlier in her career, she edited medical
books and journals at Little, Brown, and worked for Boston magazine.Boston Globe Health and Science staff:
- Gideon Gil, Health and Science Editor
- Ishani Ganguli, Short White Coat blogger
