September 17, 2002

For La Salle University Student, "Youth For Life" Has Special Meaning

Four years ago, Fanta Waterman became interested in organ donation when her father received a "new" liver after his body went into total shutdown. Now, the La Salle University student wants to educate people about how they can save lives by pledging to donate their organs and tissue.

"I was looking for some more community service work and I ran into this," said Waterman, who is organizing a rally to promote awareness for organ donation on October 10th , from 11 AM to 2 PM at La Salle. She is working with "Youth for Life: Remembering Walter Payton" a foundation dedicated to organ donation education.

"I appreciate how technology and medicine can allow organs to be placed in a different body, and how that can help sustain somebody's life," said Waterman, who has started shadowing doctors in the Nephrology Department at the Albert Einstein Medical Center to learn more about transplants.

"Youth for Life" was founded by Brittney Payton, whose father, football great Walter Payton, died of liver disease in 1999, after being on the waiting list for a new organ for three years. In 2001, Brittney Payton and three friends began "Youth for Life" to help people who need transplants.

The public is invited to join Waterman and the La Salle football team at the rally. A short video of personal stories and information about the campaign will be shown throughout the event. Waterman also plans on having a doctor, a patient, and a representative from the Philadelphia Eagles as guest speakers.

A New York City, native Waterman has performed community service since high school. She currently volunteers in a soup kitchen at St. Vincent's Church in Germantown and participates in La Salle's Foster Care Tutoring program. She also volunteers at her church in New York. Majoring in La Salle's Integrated Science, Business & Technology program (a sponsor of the event), she is a Dean's List student.

According to the "Youth for Life" website, more than 76,000 people are currently waiting for an organ donation, with more than 2,000 patients under the age of 18; every 14 minutes a new name is added to the national transplant waiting list. More than 14,000 children and teenagers have donated organs and/or tissue since 1988. Eighty percent of transplant recipients have a full recovery.