Brandy Barkey Sweeney was pregnant with her
third child when she learned she had peripartum
cardiomyopathy and would need a heart transplant.
The timing of her diagnosis made the year 2015
feel particularly significant as she enjoyed the
opportunity to watch her children grow.
“I will always remember the excitement on my
oldest son’s face when he rode the bus for the first
time,” Brandy says. “I’ve been able to attend his first
day of school, his first field trip, and his first tee-ball
game, to name a few.”
She was able to watch her middle son reach his
third birthday, and see her baby girl’s first time
crawling, her first steps and first words.
Brandy says. “Each milestone is accompanied with
tears of joy.”
With each milestone
I feel blessed by God,
overwhelmed with
emotion, and grateful
for my donor and
donor family,
“
”
Volunteer Training
CORE grew its volunteer team by
more than 43 percent in 2015.
Community outreach
coordinators offered ongoing
education to Volunteers for Life
at the local “Task Force”meetings
held throughout CORE’s service
area. Topics included: “Tabling
Events 101,”“Tissue/Organs for
Research” and “Minority Needs in
Donation”.
In order to meet a CORE goal of
including a personal story speaker
at every public presentation, CORE
increased the number of trained
Volunteer for Life speakers.
19
INCREASING
DONATION AWARENESS
Members of the CORE “Volunteers for Life
Program” at CORE headquarters in Pittsburgh.
Volunteer for
Life speaker Jan
Eddy (donor
mom) at
Gateway High
School.
Volunteer for Life speakers (left) Lynda
Napierkowski (donor wife) and (right)
Dalton Igoe (pediatric heart recipient)
speak at St. Clair Hospital. CORE
Professional Services Liaison (center)
Mark Succheralli is also shown.
