Thread: Tiana tillman and Peanut...

Chicago Bears' Cornerback Charles Tillman (#33) is speaking out about Congenital Heart Defects for the International Children's Heart Foundation.


Charles and Jackie Tillman have three beautiful children. Their middle child, Tiana, received a heart transplant at the age of 6 months due to a condition called Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Hearing the story of Tiana brings a tear to the eyes of listeners as her parents tell of seeing Tiana placed in a medical helicopter to be whisked to downtown Chicago for emergency treatment. The Tillmans were not able to go with Tiana in the helicopter. Imagine that if you can. They thought their daughter could die right then and there.

Tiana spent time on the Berlin Heart which is a device that sits outside the heart and does the pumping for the failing heart. This was used to keep Tiana alive until a donor heart could be found. Her surgeon at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, Dr. Sunjay Kaushal, said that Tiana would have certainly died without the transplant.
Fast forward to 2010 and Tiana is a healthy 2 ½ year old running around like crazy! She has a new lease on life thanks to an organ donor that was a match for her.

Charles and Jackie Tillman are wonderful, caring parents. They also understand the need to help people less fortunate - not only in the USA but internationally. They are active in their own Cornerstone Foundation, and have become great friends of the International Children's Heart Foundation. Like so many parents, the Tillmans are thankful that they had access to the best medical care the world has to offer. Children born in 3rd world or underdeveloped countries most often do not survive their congenital heart defects...their parents are told to take their children home and make their last days comfortable.

The mission of the International Children's Heart Foundation (ICHF) is to bring the skills, technology and knowledge to cure and care for children with congenital heart disease to developing countries. ICHF does this regardless of country of origin, race, religion or gender. This year ICHF will provide life-saving surgery to approximately 800 children in countries including: Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, India, and China. Without these life-saving surgeries and services, these children surely would have died.

Originally Posted by BearStuff

At this morning's Rotary meeting, we had a speaker who was the Director of Public Relations and Marketing for UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing). She gave a fantastic speech and mentioned that there are over 108,000 people on the critical transplant waiting list right now. 18 of them will die each day.

Each state handles Organ Sharing differently. In Virginia, all we have to do is check a box at the DMV when renewing our license in order to become an organ donor.

I encourage everyone to not only donate to fantastic causes like Peanut's (another is International Hospital for Children), but also to look into becoming an organ donor. Have a discussion with your family about it, so they know your wishes (and you can find out theirs). A single organ donor can save 7 people's lives, goodness knows you won't need the organs.

Yeah, ive been an Organ Donor since i got my license. I figure if something that tragic happens to me and i die, i sure wont be needing those organs, so might as well donate em to someone who can use em. I also try to give blood a couple times a year.

And i just donated $10 to the babyheart site, very quick if anyone is interested.

Originally Posted by BearStuff

A single organ donor can save 7 people's lives, goodness knows you won't need the organs.

I had someone in my immediate family die in a car accident. They were able to use 5 of her organs for different people in need. That's a nice consolation and helps my mental state when I put it all in perspective.

Originally Posted by BearStuff

At this morning's Rotary meeting, we had a speaker who was the Director of Public Relations and Marketing for UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing). She gave a fantastic speech and mentioned that there are over 108,000 people on the critical transplant waiting list right now. 18 of them will die each day.

Each state handles Organ Sharing differently. In Virginia, all we have to do is check a box at the DMV when renewing our license in order to become an organ donor.

I encourage everyone to not only donate to fantastic causes like Peanut's (another is International Hospital for Children), but also to look into becoming an organ donor. Have a discussion with your family about it, so they know your wishes (and you can find out theirs). A single organ donor can save 7 people's lives, goodness knows you won't need the organs.

great points!.. think both organ donation and giving to the charities worthwhile