Chronicle Journal - Stories -

More Links	tbayjobline	TbayWeddings	Play Games!	^New! eVents Calendar	Advertise with Us	Contact Us

Other Links	Movie Times	Airport	Bus Schedule	Road Conditions	Library	Weather

Torch of Life lights up city
THE CHRONICLE-JOURNAL
11/24/2009

Email this article
Send a Letter to the Editor
Printer friendly page

St. Patrick high school students carried a different kind of torch on Monday.

The Torch of Life, representing the need for organ and tissue donation, was brought to Thunder Bay by Step-By-Step, a charity promoting organ donation.

More than 4,000 Canadians are waiting for organ donors, the group said.

The campaign, SOS the Americas, encourages people to become donors.

Brittney Marshall knows how important it is for organ donors to step forward to give the gift of life.

Her dad‘s best friend, Cas, has been on dialysis for about five years, she related. For two years, Cas has been on the list to get a pancreas and a kidney.

He‘s also a double amputee, and with a rare blood type, it‘s difficult to find a donor, she said.

“This is good motivation to make organ donation known and get people to sign the back of their health cards,” the Grade 12 student said before she and about half-a-dozen other students walked with the torch from their south-side school to city hall.

Ariana Spina was chosen to carry the flame.

“I wanted to inspire people to talk to their families and donate their organs,” said Spina, a Grade 12 student who is involved in school activities.

It was an emotional walk for the students involved.

“It‘s such a good cause,” Spina said.

“I want people to know about (organ and tissue donation), and consider it.”

George Marcello, founder and chief executive officer of Step By Step, had his first liver transplant in 1995, and his second in 2005.

The torch‘s legacy started shortly after Marcello‘s first operation, when he walked across Canada, a trek that brought him through Thunder Bay in December of 2000.

“I spent Christmas and New Year‘s in Thunder Bay,” Marcello said.

“The whole city helped me out. I‘d lost my road team when our Hummer broke down.

“They provided me with a vehicle and made it possible to finish my campaign.”

Pope John Paul II blessed the torch shortly after that, and asked Marcello to pass it to students.

That‘s how he got the idea for the two-year Torch of Life campaign, which started Oct. 23 in Alaska and is to end in Argentina on Oct. 24, 2011.

Marcello will visit nearly 300 cities in 36 countries.

A converted ambulance allows him to broadcast the campaign at www.sostheamericas.ca.

Marcello mortgaged his house to make the campaign a reality.

His charity accepts donations via www.sostheamericas.com.
Top of Page

Games!
Canadian Crossword
PlayFour!
Word Roundup