Accepting memorial contributions.
With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant families are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-related expenses. Volunteers are raising funds for COTA in honor of transplant patients like Mark Passaro.
Join us and our many sponsors in showing life-saving support for COTA at a silent auction and fundraiser in honor of Mark, where 100 percent of funds raised will assist with transplant-related expenses.
- Location: 6104 Johnson Dr., Mission, KS 66202
- Date: Saturday, June 9th
- Time: 1 to 4 p.m.
Mark was born on June 1, 1981 in Kansas City, Missouri and was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis exactly two years later in June, 1983. His first hospitalization was in 1985, when he began colonizing pseudomonas. The early eighties were discouraging times for people diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis due to it being the early days of research and a limited variety of antibiotics available to fight pseudomonas.
Mark was in and out of the hospital throughout his life but still managed to have a somewhat-normal childhood without letting CF get in his way of activities like playing baseball, rollerblading and fishing. The inhaled antibiotic Tobramycin was a boon when it became available in 1992 and allowed him to enjoy time away from the hospital for quite a while, a welcome change.
Once Mark was listed for a transplant, it was amazing how fast it all happened. After being listed for nine days, Mark got the call at 2 a.m. on May 27, 2017 that donor lungs had been acquired. Mark immediately went to the hospital and after 12 hours of waiting, the surgeon said the lungs looked great, and Mark was taken into surgery. His parents flew down from Kansas City immediately to be with him when he woke up and be his caretakers for the foreseeable future.
Mark is doing very well after his transplant. He had his first scheduled bronchoscopy on June 29. His lung function percentage has gone from 17% to 81% post transplant, which allows him to do all the things that he wasn’t able to do pre-transplant.
The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.