Local Rotarian a huge advocate for organ and tissue donation

As an operating room nursing supervisor in the 1980s at the Oshawa General Hospital (now Lakeridge Health), Hilda (Gatchell) Finnigan had seen her share of life and death.

One day, the family of a young boy in critical condition after being hit while riding his bicycle asked about donating his organs. This family showed Hilda that organ       donation is not only a way to save lives but also to give meaning to the life lost.

Since that day, Hilda has been an active Trillium Gift of Life Network volunteer, speaking to the public and to nurses, raising awareness of the value of organ donation.

It’s difficult for families to make a    decision about organ donation.

“They’re dealing with a tragedy. They’re not thinking in those terms,” Hilda says, adding that nurses can help family members realize the chance they might have to save a life.

During her term as president of the Operating Room Nurses Association of Ontario from 1990 to 1992, one of Hilda’s goals was to build on the education of OR nurses to prepare them to discuss organ donation with patients and families.

Hilda is also a Rotarian, and she devotes many volunteer hours to the Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood. In 1996-97 she served as president of the club. She also met her husband Al Finnigan through Rotary.

As an active Rotarian, Al has led many successful Rotary fundraisers over the years. He has been involved in several projects in the community such as the building of the Memory Garden Gazebo in the Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens.  The gazebo was made possible by the generosity of the rotary clubs of Oshawa and Oshawa-Parkwood. Together, the clubs donated $30,000 for the design and installation of the Rotary Gazebo.

Al and Hilda have a strong and vibrant partnership given their shared vision of a healthy, prosperous, and generous world.

The goal of raising awareness about organ donation is a good fit with Rotary. “The motto of Rotary is ‘service above self,’” Hilda says. “Organ and tissue donation gives someone a future; the ultimate in service above self.”

Hilda continues to educate Rotarians about the benefits of organ donation. In the year that Al was President of the Oshawa-Parkwood Club (2013-14), she led a drive to increase registrations to donate by Rotarians.  This resulted in more than 1,000 new consents.

Today, in her local community of Oshawa, Hilda volunteers with the Durham Region Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Group.

Hilda says, “We have increased the provincial average for signed consents from 24 per cent to 34 per cent. In Oshawa, we’re at 40 per cent. In the past 15 years, there have been over 18,000 organ transplants in Ontario. However, we have a significant waiting list at 1,624.”

To register to become an organ donor through Durham Region Organ Donor Awareness’ official campaign, please visit beadonor.ca/campaign/awarenessdurhamregion “We still need more people to register and consent,” Hilda says. “We’re spending as much time as we can in the mall, doing displays, and spreading the word.”

Al and Hilda Finnigan are indeed People of Action, working to create a better, stronger, and healthier community.