Organ Transplant Recipient Spreads the Word at Church

George Miller was in need of a miracle.

Stricken with a debilitating liver disease, the 59-year-old Ventura resident was given only 48 hours to live unless an organ donor were found. Fellow parishioners at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ventura prayed earnestly for him.

With the help of those prayers, Miller said, his miracle came.

“On the 48th hour, a liver was found,” he said.

After recovering from surgery last summer, Miller returned to his church to thank members for their prayers and to increase their awareness about the need for organ donors. Of the 68,000 people in need of organ transplants, he said, 16,000 would die while waiting for donors.

Pastor Daniel O’Sullivan was so moved by Miller’s experience that he recently asked him to lead a special ministry to teach others in the church about the importance of donating organs.

“Pope John Paul II said organ donation is the ultimate act of Christian charity,” O’Sullivan said.

After each morning service this Sunday, Miller will speak to church members about having his life saved by an organ donor. Representatives from the Ventura chapter of Transplant Recipients International will be on hand to answer questions and distribute donor cards.

Also on hand to spread the word will be members of the Westlake Village-based chapter of Transplant Recipients International Organization, whose membership is made up of transplant survivors from Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

“We would like organ donation to become an American custom,” said Cynthia Hutchinson, a liver transplant survivor who sits on the group’s board of directors.

Hutchinson, Miller and other organization members meet at 7 p.m. the first and third Fridays of each month at One GTE Place in Westlake Village to talk about their experiences and offer their support for one another.

Group members provide support services for transplant donors and recipients. They also speak at schools, hospitals, businesses or anywhere they can educate people on the need for organ donors.

TRIO, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has 4,000 members and a network of chapters throughout the United States, Italy and Japan, with more than 100 support groups and advocacy programs.

Sacred Heart’s organ donor ministry is the first of its kind in the United States, Hutchinson’s group believes.

Following his ministry on Sunday, Miller and volunteers from the 2,100-member parish will gather outside the church the second Sunday of each month to hand out donor cards and information.

“This is a ministry of kindness that will save lives,” O’Sullivan said.