WVU Medicine Uniontown raises flag for National Donate Life Month
Behind every person who spoke at the WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital Thursday morning was a quilt honoring those who no longer could.
Each square had photos, drawings or logos detailing their passions: a Steelers helmet, a Batman logo, an inscription saying “#1 Dad.”
But all were linked by an even higher common interest: they were donors who’d helped save someone’s life.
The hospital held a flag-raising ceremony with the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) Thursday to commemorate National Donate Life Month. The flag will remain up through April.
Celebrated since 2003, the month draws awareness to the importance of registering to become a donor, honoring those who have given, and celebrating the people they’ve helped and the lives they’ve been able to lead.
Chasity Wilson had known she would eventually need a transplant since she was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease at the age of 22. Fourteen years later, she started hemodialysis and began the long process of waiting for a kidney transplant.
Years went by, and she was “declining fast,” she said.
After three years, she finally got the call she’d been waiting for from the WVU transplant team: they’d found a perfect match.
“He was only 20 years old, and I think of him every day,” she said. “And I thought, ‘How can I give this young man’s life meaning and serve a greater purpose with this gift I received?'”
She found her calling as a nurse. She works at Uniontown Hospital, where she’s reminded every day “that I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
“Amidst every shift I encounter a patient that I share my story with and instill hope in them to never, ever give up,” she said.
David Sitko received his life-saving liver transplant in 2017. After undergoing severe abdominal and stomach problems, he’d been diagnosed with late-stage liver disease.
His doctor referred him to a transplant specialist in Pittsburgh, setting off a weeks-long evaluation process to be put on the transplant list.
The little less than three years he was on the list became an emotional rollercoaster, he said. His temper would flare. And as he declined, he was unable to work or drive, making his wife the one responsible for taking the kids to dance recitals, or driving him to appointments.
“Three years you’re told ‘It’s coming soon, it’s coming soon,’ but you sit and you wait for that one call,” he said. “Sooner or later, you just become numb. And every time the phone rings, it’s just like, ‘Oh well, it’s another call.'”
Until it wasn’t.
He still remembers the exact time — 1:45 a.m., on Aug. 14, 2017. He and his wife headed over to a hospital in Pittsburgh so he could be prepped for surgery.
As he was in the pre-op center, he and his wife hugged, kissed and said “I love you.” Soon, he was being wheeled in.
“Eleven-plus hours later, I woke up in the ICU unit with my wife by my side,” he said. “She leaned over, kissed me on my forehead, and whispered that everything went fine.”
He’s been able to lead a normal life again, resuming his hobbies, and seeing his kids graduate college, and celebrating his 25th anniversary.
His heart goes out to the donor and her family, who are responsible for him being there Thursday.
“As far as I’m concerned, their loved one was the hero of my life,” he said. “She gave me that second chance, and I hope in her eyes, I’m living up to that promise that I made to fulfill what she gave me.”
More than 100,000 people across the country are on a waiting list for life-saving transplants, including nearly 7,000 in Pennsylvania and 500 in West Virginia, said Meredith Aumer, vice president of nursing and chief nursing officer at Uniontown.
To illustrate the importance of donating, she drew on the event’s annual theme, “Let Life Sing.”
“Donation is a harmonious act of compassion, and together we create a symphony of hope that echoes through our community,” she said.
In 2024, the hospital had three organ donors, 16 tissue donors and 13 cornea donors.
The generosity of one person helps many more. The 16 tissue donors turned into as many as 1,200 people who are better able to move, said Jessica Yokubeak, CORE’s director of operations. And the cornea donors helped 26 people regain their sight.
“To the Uniontown hospital team physicians, nurses, everyone here on staff, you all play a role, and I thank you,” she said. “Leadership is the foundation of donation, ensuring that hope continues to soar and lives are saved.”
After a ceremony indoors, the crowd moved outside to the front of the hospital, where Uniontown Hospital policemen Sgt. John Matlick and Officer Michael Pyle raised a Donate Life flag.
Both officers are registered as organ donors.
“I’ve worked at WVU Medicine for 20 years,” Matlick said. “I’ve definitely seen where it can come into play.”
Pyle said he’d been moved by “what it can do for families and patients.”
To register as an organ donor, go to registerme.org.
WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital officers Sgt. John Matlick and Officer Michael Pyle raise a Donate Life flag at a ceremony Thursday morning. Through April, the hospital will fly the flag to observe National Donate Month, which raises awareness of the importance of organ, tissue and cornea donations.