WVU Medicine United Hospital Center Celebrates Donate Life Month with Inspiring Story of Nurse and Kidney Recipient Tyler Choate

This April, WVU Medicine United Hospital Center (UHC) is partnering with the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) for National Donate Life Month, a month-long observance dedicated to raising awareness for organ, tissue, and cornea donation.

 

The campaign hits especially close to home this year for Tyler Choate, RN, a nurse in UHC’s inpatient dialysis unit. Choate doesn't just care for patients facing kidney failure; he understands their journey intimately as a kidney transplant recipient himself. His unique perspective as both a provider and a survivor serves as a living testament to the life-saving power of donation.

 

“People would tell me, ‘You don’t want your illness to define you.’ However, I chose to do the opposite and let my disease lead me, giving me a clear direction in life. This is what inspired me to share my story and my experiences with the people that I helped take care of, to help guide them through the same situations,” said Choate.

To honor donors like those who gave Choate a second chance, UHC held a special flag-raising ceremony on Thursday, April 2. The event recognized the selfless individuals and families whose "yes" to donation provides hope to the more than 100,000 people currently on the national transplant waiting list.

 

“As a health system, we stand in a unique position to not just attend to the health of our patients but to ignite a powerful inspiration within our community,” said David F. Hess, MD, CEO of United Hospital Center. "The more individuals we can motivate to become organ donors, the more profoundly we fulfill our mission as advocates for the holistic well-being of our community."

 

The need remains critical. In Pennsylvania and West Virginia alone, more than 6,500 people are waiting for a transplant. Nationally, a new name is added to the waiting list every eight minutes, and an average of 13 people die each day because a donor organ was not available in time.

 

WVU Medicine UHC encourages everyone to follow Tyler Choate’s example of hope by registering as an organ, tissue, and cornea donor today. For more information or to register, visit www.core.org/register or sign up at the DMV.