Darvy Culleton doesn’t often have to pull out his own story to convince people to register as organ donors.
Nowadays, the New Westminster resident says, what usually keeps people from signing up are just misconceptions about not being able to donate because they’re too old or drink too much or have tattoos.
“With a little bit of knowledge, most people are happy to do it,” Culleton said.
But every now and again, the double-lung recipient’s personal story comes in handy. Like just this month, when a woman told him she hadn’t registered because she didn’t want her organs going to some criminal.
“She thought I worked for B.C. Transplant,” said Culleton, who had been staffing a registration booth at a blood clinic. “She thought I was just an employee.”
But when Culleton, who has cystic fibrosis, told the woman how his own transplant 10 years ago had transformed his life – how he has since married and travelled and now plans to start a family, she changed her mind and registered.
“Having a transplant didn’t improve my life,” Culleton told the Record. “It gave me a whole new life. Before transplant, I could barely have a shower without running out of breath. I couldn’t walk to my car without stopping. Stairs were unimaginable …, and I spent nine months out of the year at St. Paul’s Hospital for the two years prior to transplant. I grew up riding BMX and I couldn’t do that anymore.”
And not a day goes by, Culleton said, without him thinking about his donor.
All he knows about him is that he was a very healthy man who died in a motorcycle crash.
When Culleton talks to his own mom, he wonders what kind of parents his donor had.
When he rides his BMX on a sunny day, he wonders if that’s the kind of thing his donor would have done. A fellow motorcycle enthusiast, Culleton wonders what kind of motorcycle his donor rode.
“I’m always grateful,” Culleton said. “Whenever I think about it, I never have a weird thought, a bad thought. It’s always a great thought.”
Culleton started volunteering to raise awareness about organ donation about a year-and-a-half after his transplant.
Next month he’ll be at Burnaby Lake Regional Park for the fifth annual Transplant Trot.
For the past three years, he has manned a booth at the fundraiser and encouraged people to register to become organ donors, but this year he’s entering the 5K walk/run and aims to gather together this year’s biggest team – the Big Team.
“Volunteering, it brings me joy. I don’t know if that’s a corny thing to say, but every time I volunteer, it makes me feel good,” Culleton said.
“It makes me feel good about myself. It makes me feel like maybe I just might be helping someone else get a transplant.”
The Transplant Trot takes place April 10 at 10 a.m. with a warm-up and welcome at 9:30 a.m. by the Burnaby Lake Rugby Club (3760 Sperling Ave.).
Visit www.transplanttrot.ca/vancouver for more information about the event, to set up a team or to register as an individual.
You can also use the same link to make a donation.
