In writing a letter to the family members of her bone donor, paramedic Chelsie Ober came full circle.
She was first inspired to register as a donor when a friend received a kidney through a transplant. Through her daily work as a paramedic, she fully understood the importance of organ and tissue donation. Still, she never imagined she would be the recipient of a life-saving bone donation through the Gift of Life program to replace a shattered disc in her spine in 2018.
For years while working as a medic in the Emergency Department at Reading Hospital and as an ambulance paramedic, Chelsie suffered from numbness and pain in her left arm, and ongoing neck and back pain. An evaluation showed she had two discs causing pain and discomfort; one disc herniated, and the other was completely shattered, requiring removal in pieces.
Chelsie underwent an anterior cervical fusion and discectomy (commonly known as a spine fusion) to treat nerve compression, and, as part of that surgery, was the recipient of a bone donation. The numbness and tingling she had long experienced, were alleviated after her procedure. In her letter, she thanked the family for their generous donation and shared how it had allowed her to return to an active lifestyle without pain, and to her career as a paramedic.
“One person absolutely can make a difference in the lives of others,” she said. “I thank the family of my donor for making the selfless decision to donate during a difficult time for them.”
Chelsie, also Manager of Emergency Preparedness and EMS Outreach, shared her experience as part of Donate Life Month in April. It takes less than a minute to sign up and become a donor. She hopes her story of being both a donor and a recipient encourages others to register too.
Tower Health entities partner with the Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) and the Gift of Life Donor Program in the annual campaign to educate our community on the critical need for more organ, tissue, and cornea donors and to encourage individuals to register as donors.
Visit Gift of Life to learn more about organ donation. Sign up to donate and save lives.
About Tower Health
Tower Health is a regional integrated healthcare system that offers compassionate, high quality, leading edge healthcare and wellness services to communities in Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties. With approximately 11,500 employees, Tower Health consists of Reading Hospital in West Reading; Phoenixville Hospital in Phoenixville; Pottstown Hospital in Pottstown; and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, in partnership with Drexel University. Tower Health is strongly committed to academic medicine and training, including multiple residency and fellowship programs, the Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health, and the Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences in West Reading. The system also includes Reading Hospital Rehabilitation at Wyomissing; home healthcare provided by Tower Health at Home; TowerDirect ambulance and emergency response; Tower Health Medical Group; Tower Health Providers, our clinically integrated network; and Tower Health Urgent Care facilities across our service area. For more information, visit towerhealth.org.