Donor Network West

Reno physician, Dennis Yamamoto, MD, married his wife, Mary (Oberski) Yamamoto, in 1976. Both from large families, their wedding boasted a guest list of 375 people and it was a multi-day affair. It was a big start to what would be nearly 45 years of marriage as they pursued careers — Dr. Yamamoto in medicine and Mary in social work — raised their twin children and celebrated becoming grandparents to four grandsons.

At 16 years old, Reno local, Austin James Steele, applied to take his driver’s license test. When his mother, Marlies Radtke, asked him if he would register as an organ donor after he passed his test, he replied, “Well, why wouldn’t I be?”

Xochie Aranda was a single mother in her 30s when she first learned that she had polycystic kidney disease, a genetic disorder that is the fourth-leading cause of kidney failure in the U.S. She was placed on the national transplant waiting list for a kidney and received a transplant in 2014.

When local Reno resident, Donna Kapala, received the news that an acquaintance she met over 40 years ago was on dialysis and needed a kidney transplant, she offered to undergo testing to see if she could donate a kidney––and she was.

Nevadan Angelo Reyes began his work day June 10, 2022 like any other, until a colleague mentioned that his eyes appeared yellow. This was the first sign of liver failure, which progressed rapidly. Driven by his sense of responsibility to his family and his son, he continued to work even as his skin began to yellow and his body held excess fluid.

Reyes was placed on the transplant waiting list less than a month after his first symptom — at 47 years old, he needed a life-saving liver transplant.

In recognition of those who have received life-saving transplants and in honor of both living and deceased donors, Donor Network West lights the iconic Reno Arch blue and green every April during Donate Life Month. The Arch turned blue and green Saturday, April 1, during a special ceremony and will remain blue and green the entire month.

Donna Kapala never expected to be a complete match but, after a series of tests, she learned that one of her kidneys could save the life of someone she met 41 years prior on a teaching assignment to Australia. Her friend Sheila Hoban, one of the “six amigas,” was on the national waiting list and thanks to Kapala’s life-saving gift, she is alive and healthy today.

Diagnosed with a rare lung disease in 2009, Dina Jennings is awaiting a life-saving lung transplant. She is one of the more than 600 Nevadans and 100,000 people in the U.S. on the national transplant waiting list.

Donor Network West hosted a special remembrance event to honor the legacy of Elizabeth “Lizzy” Hammond, which gathered family, friends and caregivers at Fianna’s Healing Garden at Renown Regional Medical Center.

A memorial portrait of Lizzy was crafted entirely out of organic materials and was featured on the Donate Life float at the 133rd Rose Parade Jan. 1, 2022 in Pasadena, Calif. The portrait — also called a “floragraph” — was gifted to her family during the remembrance event Tuesday, Aug. 16.

Donor Network West, the federally designated organ procurement organization for northern Nevada and northern California, today joined four other organ procurement organizations as a founding member to fund the launch of the Biostasis Research Institute (BRI).

RENO — Every April in honor of National Donate Life Month, Donor Network West (DNW), the federally designated Organ Procurement Organization in northern Nevada and northern California, encourages Nevadans to register as organ donors, while also celebrating life-saving transplants and honoring both living and deceased donors. To register as an organ donor, you can visit your local Department of Motor Vehicles or visit DonorNetworkWest.org.