Beyond the Byline: Give the gift of life

Driving to run errands Sunday, the song “Take It Easy” by the Eagles came on the radio.

Call it karma, call it coincidence, call it luck.

On Sunday, I wrote a story about National Donate Life Month, encouraging people to consider signing up to be organ donors.

Featured in that story is Tony Harding of Scranton, a 55-year-old guy who has had two kidney transplants, extending his life for years.

Tony talked to me about how he “keeps swinging” at all that life has to offer, and he talked about completing several items on his “bucket list.”

One thing Tony still wants to do is to stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.

It’s a reference to that song by the Eagles — “Take It Easy.”

The song goes:

“Well, I’m a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona

And such a fine sight to see

It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford

Slowin’ down to take a look at me”

Tony has stared death in the face twice, and as he says, he’s “still swinging.”

Harding has been given the gift of life twice, having received a new kidney from his two greatest heroes — his sister, Donna, and the other from a young man who was killed in a car accident at age 32.

Now back to Tony’s “bucket list.” He has already been to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Derby, a Bob Seger concert, a Pittsburgh Penguins game and Ralphie’s house from the movie “A Christmas Story,” and he’s been to the house where his father grew up in Pittsburgh.

Harding says he feels great and he looks forward to every day and checking things off of that list of his.

It’s a success story, for sure. Organ donation has given Tony and many, many more a second lease on life and with that, the opportunity to do things they have always wanted to do.

Tony’s zest for life is refreshing. He is so appreciative of his second and third chances at life, he donates his time on behalf of the Gift of Life Donor Program that is based out of Philadelphia. It’s an organ procurement organization and Harding attends health fairs and often tells his story to people considering becoming an organ donor.

Tony wants to get the message out because there are far more people in need of organ transplants than there are people willing to donate.

Susan Koomer, community relations coordinator with the Gift of Life Donor Program, said the organization serves 11.3 million people in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

She said since 1974, Gift of Life has coordinated more than 52,500 life-saving organs for transplant, and approximately 1.75 million tissue transplants have resulted from the generosity of donors and their families.

“The number of people in need of transplants far exceeds the number of organs, tissues and corneas that are donated, and at Gift of Life, we’re passionate about educating people on the need to become an organ, tissue and cornea donor,” said Howard M. Nathan, president and CEO at Gift of Life. “Registering to become a donor only takes about 30 seconds, but it’s one of the most meaningful ways individuals can inspire hope and change the life of someone waiting for a transplant.”

Koomer said the region served by Gift of Life — including Luzerne County and all of Northeast Pennsylvania — has been the most generous for organ donation in the United States for 13 consecutive years.

That really is impressive.

Koomer said every minute counts for more than 5,000 children and adults waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in Luzerne County and across this region.

Koomer said the impact of one donor is extraordinary — one organ donor can save up to eight lives and a tissue donor can transform the lives of more than 100 people through gifts of corneas, skin, bone, veins, ligaments and heart valves.

Think about that for a minute or two.

Think about it as Tony Harding continues on his life journey and keeps checking items off his bucket list.

“I didn’t go through two kidney transplants to not do anything,” Harding told me.

Give the gift of life. Understand what it means to people like Tony Harding and why he wants to stand on that corner in Winslow, Arizona.