Monday, May 31, 2010

[Text and photo by Tinker (AnnHart) and Petralisa, translation by Sabine Atkins. The German original is below the English text.
The photo shows members of the German Alex O'Loughlin Fan Club Network, wearing T-Shirts promoting both Donate Life and the German organ donation organization "Für's Leben. Für Organspende".]

Last weekend, the German Alex O'Loughlin Fan Club Network invited international fans to a meeting. Fans visited not only from Germany and the Netherlands, but also from as far as Australia.

We know each other for some time now, from interactions on the Internet and from the "Breakout Before Moonlight" Convention in London. Some of us met for the first time in person.

In addition to activities such as going to the movies ("The Back-Up Plan", of course), sightseeing and a visit to a horse farm, there were also some discussions about Alex's projects like "Three Rivers" and "Hawaii Five-O".

Another focus was the story of a friend whose fate has touched us very deeply: Her husband had a serious car accident and was critically injured.

He was brought to the hospital with a head injury and laid in a coma for several weeks. No one knew if and when he would wake up, and what kind of disabilities he might suffer from. When he finally woke up, he did not recognize his family. He required care around the clock.

For our friend, it was a very difficult time, since her life changed so dramatically. Her husband's condition deteriorated steadily, and at that time she was asked whether the family would agree to organ donation in the event of his death.

Suddenly he suffered a stroke, and she was faced with the decision whether life-prolonging measures should be maintained. The decision was taken out of her hands when her husband died.

She agreed to the removal of his organs, because he had always carried an organ donor card with him. Unfortunately, liver and kidney were not suited for transplantation due to certain medications he had been required to take. His heart, however, was strong enough. Since there is a long waiting list, a recipient was found quickly. The heart was successfully transplanted into the patient, and another life was saved.

Our friend feels that the decision to donate the organs ultimately helped her cope with the death of her beloved husband, because a part of him lives on.

We are proud to be fans of Alex O'Loughlin, because he uses his fame as an actor to be an ambassador for organ donation.

We promote Donate Life and want to support this important organization as much as we can. Through regular blog entries on the "

Da ich (schmeissi) leider nicht an dem Treffen in Deutschland teilnehmen konnte (Holyday),trafen Lisa und ich uns in Venedig. Lisa ist Admin der australischen Fanseite von Alex.