The voyage of the "Gift of Life" will begin from San Diego approximately May l, 2005. The exact route will remain flexible due to many unknowns, including weather, maintenance and health concerns. The basic route will be the Torres Strait, Cape of Good Hope, Panama Canal to San Diego. Return to the states will be made from Capetown for a scheduled/required annual week long physical at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Cape of Good Hope is best rounded in December or January. Other time frames are also important, however, not as critical as the rounding of the cape. If all goes as planned, it can be accomplished in 15 months, 11 months of actual underway time. Return trips will be made, if and when necessary, by military aircraft. Saving the organization money, whenever possible, is always part of our plan. Captain Lien has a background of boating and sailing. He has operated commercial tuna boats, charter boats, had a 100 ton Coast Guard license to haul passengers for hire, and lived aboard while sailing their S/V Moonshadow for six years. Because of serious health issues he returned to the US in l998. The condition was congestive heart failure and continued to worsen. He was unable to climb one flight of stairs or even carry groceries in the house. A pacemaker was implanted in July 2002, however the condition did not improve. Later testing began to determine his eligibility for heart transplant. After it was determined he had no other serious medical problem, he was placed in the hospital on life support and was listed number one in his blood type in Minnesota. His recovery has been complete and he now hopes to continue his work to affect an increase in organ donation. Coverage by the national media is what we seek and what we expect. Every effort will be made to made this a reality. This website will be advertised by friends, family, sailing rags, slick covers, radio and print media and of course TV if possible. We ask that you make your friends aware of this website. We believe that nothing encourages people to become a card carrying donor more them talking with someone who was on their deathbed and now is a healthy productive person THIS IS A MEDICAL CRISIS THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. The technology, facilities and trained medial personal are ready and waiting. Only the availability of more organs can save the lives of the thousands on the waiting list. No one expects a tragedy to occur, but it sometime does happen and some good can be salvaged. As many as seven lives can be saved or enhanced from the tragedy of one person as it has with us. The decision is very difficult to make unless the person has made his/her desires known to the family. Capt Lien not only has the encouragement of his doctor to participate in this project, but he is also a member of the Board of Governors of "Organ Donation for Life Inc. |
