Angela was born in Atlanta, Georgia on July 21, 1982. She was a beautiful, healthy baby, who developed into an extremely intelligent, very articulate and feisty child!!

As a young child, Angela joined the soccer team and the softball team, but her passions were music, animals, arts and crafts, and cooking. However, at the age of 11, her life changed. She developed some leg pain while at school and by the end of the day she was limping. The following week she was diagnosed with cancer.

She had Ewing’s Sarcoma, which is a bone cancer, and she had a 50-65% survival rate. This type of cancer is very aggressive, so she had to be treated aggressively with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She began her treatment on February 14, 1994.

Angela developed avascular necrosis as a result of the radiation therapy, and had a fibular graft of the hip in August 1995. Six months later, in February 1996, Angela walked for the first time in two years without the assistance of crutches or a wheelchair. The surgery was a success.

In addition to the avascular necrosis, Angela also had side effects to one of the chemotherapy drugs. She was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy (a weakening of the heart muscle) with mitral valve regurgitation (leakage in her heart valve) before she finished her one-year protocol of chemotherapy. The drug was so toxic that it damaged Angela’s heart. She was put on medications to help control her heart function. However, in January 2001, when Angela was 18 years old, she was admitted in the hospital, whereby she went into kidney and heart failure. Angela needed a heart transplant.

Against our wishes, Angela was transferred away from home due to insurance contractual obligations, even though she was a patient in a reputable hospital that performed transplants. She lived in the hospital for 15 months waiting for a heart that never came. She died on April 3, 2002 at the age of 19.

I now understand why I had such a feisty child -- she needed the spunk to help her survive the challenges she was given. Without her spunk and fight, I am convinced she would not have survived the cancer. Ironically, the very drugs that saved Angela’s life, took her life.

Angela was a very special person. She was compassionate. She was outgoing, fun, and she loved life. She loved people, particularly old people and little children. She was intelligent, played an active role in making decisions regarding her healthcare, and made it a point to learn as much as she could about her health problems in order to make informed decisions.

She would have been passionate about educating others about the need for organ donations. In Angela’s absence, I have been given this job -- a job I didn’t choose, but one I cannot ignore. If Angela’s life can inspire another to become a donor, several families can be spared the pain I have endured as Angela’s mother. I watched Angela suffer. I shared her hope. We prayed together. She touched the lives of many and, hopefully, will touch yours as well.