Springfield Park District Officer shares story to encourage people to sign up to be organ donors

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Since his liver transplant in 2015, Mark Mason has used his story to help educate his community about the importance of organ donation.

"It was a shock because there was never a time in my life where I thought I would need an organ donation," he said.

Mason, a Springfield Park District Officer, is grateful for organ donation. He suffered from Primary sclerosing cholangitis, which is a progressive disease of the bile ducts.

"I didn't know whether I would live to get a liver."

He sat on the organ transplant list for more than 9-years. It wasn't until April 2015 he received the gift of life at the Mayo Clinic.

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According to organdonor.gov, there are more than 104,000 men, women, and children on the national transplant waiting list. Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network serves Illinois and parts of Indiana. Kathleen Abhalter, V.P. of Hospital & Partner Relations for Gift of Hope, said 95% of people support organ/tissue donation, however only 60% end up registering to be donors.

"You know we talk a lot about the gift and the benefit of our transplant recipients, but the bigger gift is for these donor families. Truly, it kind of bridges their grief and the tragic loss."

Gift of Hope said it's important for people to have conversations with their family members, so people know what to do at the end of someone's life.

"It's so critically important for those that want to be organ donors that they sign up for organ and tissue but it's not going to impact everyone."

Luckily for Mason, with the generosity of someone signing up to be an organ donor, he was able to continue to do what he loves.

"I get to put on this uniform and be able to serve and protect this community," he said. "I never thought I would be able to move around or anything. One of the main things I love to do, besides educating the community, is roller skating. And I'm good at it."

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Mason works with the Illinois Secretary of State's Office to educate the community about becoming an organ donor. He shared that 22 people die each day waiting for the gift of life.

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