At age 32 Westchester resident Janet Ocasio was a mother to three children and a successful hospital executive who started feeling run down. Her doctor told it was likely just stress and sent her home.But things didn’t improve and soon Janet was unable to walk a block or play with her children without getting winded and needing a break. She returned to the doctor where she learned the ...

Lauren Marks may look like your average 30-year-old, but she isn’t. While many people her age are running marathons, earning graduate degrees and climbing the corporate ladder, Lauren is waiting for a new heart. At age 12 she was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an incurable condition that restricts blood flow from the heart. Only a small fraction of people with this disease ...

Organ donor advocates across the state are once again coming together to celebrate National Donate Life Month, which takes places every April and raises awareness about and celebrates the power of organ, eye and tissue donation. LiveOnNY, a federally designated nonprofit organization that facilities organ donation in the greater New York City area, and its partners will host and ...

At 53 years old, Donna DiCosta has a lot to be thankful for: a successful nursing career and two healthy children. But the thing she is most thankful for is having a second chance at life, thanks to the power of organ donation.“Every day that I am alive is because my organ donor chose to give the gift of life,” DiCosta said. “What she has done for me is truly remarkable.”At age three, ...

NEW YORK -- Like most New Yorkers, Sal Lopizzo never gave organ donation much thought."I never really understood the need for it and there were always so many myths about it," said Lopizzo, 65, who lives in the Rockway section of Queens. "I never really took it too seriously because it didn’t affect me."That outlook changed in 2000 when he was unexpectedly diagnosed ...

NEW YORK -- It's no secret that organ donations save lives. Whether given through a living donor or obtained via an end-of-life procedure, the act of donating a vital organ to those in need can literally be a gift of life.However, some New Yorkers are reluctant to become part of this life-saving list, citing religious or moral objections to the practice. While it's important that ...

This October, nearly 4,000 New Yorkers from across the state came together to promote health, community and longevity, thanks to LiveOnNY's annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day.Currently in its third year, Organ Donor Enrollment Day brings individuals and organizations together to help save the lives of the 120,000 Americans – 10,000 of whom live in New York – currently waiting for a ...