Kaiser Permanente's Wall of Hope showcases organ donors

By Joel Rosenbaum (Courtesy of The Vacaville Reporter)

As he read testimonials on the “Wall of Hope,” Marc Roque of Vacaville started crying tears of joy.

The traveling exhibit is on display at Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center and features stories and photos of community members affected by organ and tissue donation.

Roque, who is in need of a liver transplant, was at the hospital to pick up medicine to treat his cirrhosis when he learned about Donor Network West through the exhibit.

Roque believes that a blood transfusion was the cause of his liver disease.

“I was at work and passed a kidney stone,” he explained. “I went to the hospital and they found out I had a liver problem. I never drank or did drugs.”

“For years I was jaundiced and weak,” he added.

Roque wants people to know that they shouldn’t be sad for him because as he said Friday, “I can be fixed.”

Donor Network West was established in 1987 and is the third largest federally designated organ procurement organization and one of the largest tissue recovery organizations in the nation, according to its website, www.donornetworkwest.org.

During a ceremony Friday at Kaiser Vacaville as part of National Donate Life Month, several speakers highlighted the benefits of being an organ donor.

Jackie Hopkins of Martinez was one of those speakers.

Her 20-year-old daughter, Kate, was an athletic college student from Martinez who died as a result of a tragic accident at Yosemite on Spring break 2014 while testing her new longboard. Kate went on to save and heal lives as an organ and tissue donor.

Hopkins’ husband, James, is the assistant chief of Emergency Surgery at Kaiser, Vacaville.

“Kate was a healthy and active young woman who played sports and was involved in swim team, dance, gymnastics and cheerleading,” Jackie Hopkins is quoted in the wall display. “It helps ease the pain knowing that eight others are now powered by Kate.”