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Ochsner Health Raises Flag and Releases Butterflies for Donate Life Month
The Gift of Life Ceremony honored the lifesaving sacrifices of organ donation with doctors, patients and their families.
Videos and photos from the event can be found here.
NEW ORLEANS – Doctors, nurses, patients and their families came together to recognize Donate Life Month and National Blue and Green Day on April 11, which celebrates and recognizes the life-saving sacrifice of organ donation.
The Gift of Life Ceremony included testimonials from patients and donor families. Angie Calamari spoke about her 18-year-old son, who was able to save the lives of others through organ donation. Calamari, a living organ donor herself, encouraged others to consider organ donation. Bailey Adams, a 23-year-old heart transplant recipient, and his mother, Lauralee Adams, also spoke to the crowd expressing gratitude for organ donation and to the Ochsner team members who have cared for Bailey since his transplant two years ago.
Following the ceremony, Angie Calamari and Bailey Adams united to raise the Donate Life flag outside Ochsner Medical Center. The flag will serve as a reminder for everyone to consider organ donation. Following the flag raising, butterflies were released in the garden to honor the sacrifice of those who have donated.
DOWNLOAD VIDEOS AND PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT BY CLICKING HERE.
Currently, there are over 100,000 men, women and children waiting for organ transplants to save their lives— more than 2,000 of those people are in Louisiana. National Donate Life Month in April and National Blue and Green Day on April 11 are days to recognize the power of organ donation and call attention to the urgent need for more courageous donors.
Since its inception in 1984, Ochsner’s team of renowned physicians, surgeons, transplant nurses and support specialists have successfully performed more than 8,000 life-saving liver, kidney, pancreas, heart and lung transplants in both adult and pediatric patients, and through our living donor program for living liver and living kidney transplants. Ochsner is the only pediatric heart transplant program and the only living liver donor transplant program in Louisiana.
To learn more about organ donation and the Ochsner Transplant Institute, visit ochsner.org/save9.
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About Ochsner Health
Ochsner Health is the leading nonprofit healthcare provider in the Gulf South, delivering expert care at its 46 hospitals and more than 370 health and urgent care centers. For 13 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has recognized Ochsner as the No. 1 hospital in Louisiana. Additionally, Ochsner Children’s has been recognized as the No. 1 hospital for kids in Louisiana for four consecutive years. Ochsner inspires healthier lives and stronger communities through a combination of standard-setting expertise, quality and connection not found anywhere else in the region. In 2024, Ochsner Health cared for more than 1.6 million people from every state in the nation and 63 countries. Ochsner’s workforce includes more than 40,000 dedicated team members and over 4,900 employed and affiliated physicians. To learn more about how Ochsner empowers people to get well and stay well, visit https://www.ochsner.org/.
