Wisconsin Mother to Honor the Life of Her Daughter at Rose Bowl Parade

A Wisconsin mother will honor the life of her daughter and thousands of others who gave the gift of life through organ and tissue donation as one of 32 people riding a special float in the 2013 Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif.

Sue Pasewald, mother of tissue donor Christina, will ride the Donate Life float in recognition of the thousands of individuals who donate tissue including bone, skin, heart valves, connective tissue, veins and pericardium each year. Sue’s trip to Pasadena is sponsored by RTI Donor Services, a founding sponsor of the float and one of more than 120 associations across the nation — including organ and tissue recovery organizations, industry partners, transplant centers and transplant recipient groups — supporting the float project. This is RTI’s tenth consecutive year supporting the program.

Sue and her husband Dave were blessed with five children – Ron, Julie, Amy, Christina and David. Their daughter Christina was born on March 25, 1984. According to Sue, Christina achieved so much in her short life, and she had a way about her that caused everyone who came into contact with her to love her. On July 2, 2007, Christina was tragically taken from Sue and Dave.

Sue and Dave will never forget the night Christina died. After receiving the phone call and racing to the hospital, they were immediately escorted to the trauma room. The Pasewald family remembers hearing the word “fatal.” After that, the family was faced with turning off life support and was asked about donation. Originally, Sue said, “No,” still in shock, but Dave told her that this was something Christina would want to do. The family went to be with Christina and told her they loved her and she was not alone. Sue remembers asking if Christina was gone and the nurse said, “Yes."

“We have begged God to please give our little girl back, but God has other plans for her,” Sue said.
The Pasewalds knew they had made the right decision. They learned that Christina would have wanted to donate by seeing the orange donation sticker on her driver’s license. Christina has been able to help many people through her gift of tissue donation.

Sue said the organization that handled Christina’s tissue donation, RTI Donor Services, has been a big help to her as she has grieved the loss of her daughter. “RTI Donor Services was wonderful and caring,” Sue said. “It has been over five years and we are still not forgotten by RTI. You don’t know how much this means to us and how much this helps us know that Christina has not been forgotten. It is so hard because most people have forgotten we lost our daughter and think we must be over it. To watch your child die is just unbearable – you don’t get over it. The compassion we have received from RTI has helped us go on.”

Dave and Sue have been happily married for many years and credit their love and faith with keeping them strong through this trying time. In addition to their five children, they have six grandchildren and another grandson on the way in 2013.

Sue works as a medical receptionist in a family medicine practice. The support of her co-workers and staying busy and focused on the patients’ needs have helped her keep going on after Christina’s death.
Sue is very passionate about organ and tissue donation and serves as a Donor Family Ambassador volunteer with RTI Donor Services. In addition to having a donation booth at her reception desk at work, she enjoys speaking about donation, sharing Christina’s story and providing donation information to others throughout her community.

Sue said: “I have become aware of how many people are waiting for organs and tissue. It makes me even more eager to spread the word of how just one person can help so many. Don't waste what could help someone else. Our beautiful daughter’s memory lives on forever.”

The Donate Life float, one of more than 120 parade floats and units in this year’s “Oh, the Places You'll Go!™,” themed parade, will present “Journeys of the Heart.” The float features a collection of joyful hearts representing the new life made possible by transplantation, grounded by a reverent dedication garden filled with roses bearing personal messages honoring those who make the gift of life possible. The 124th Rose Parade will take place at 8 a.m. PST on Monday, Jan. 1, 2013. For more information on the “Oh, the Places You'll Go!™,” float.

Today, more than 115,000 children and adults await life-saving organ transplants in the United States. Hundreds of thousands more are in need of a tissue transplant to save or greatly enhance the quality of their lives. Visit www.donatelife.net to find out how to designate your donation wishes in your state.