“While the other eight walkers are all donor family members, we felt it was appropriate to give Rachel this chance to participate and show the celebration that is possible between donor families and recipients,” said Bryan Stewart, chairman of the float organizing committee and vice president of communications for OneLegacy, the non-profit, federally designated organ and tissue recovery agency serving the greater Los Angeles area. “In a sense, Rachel and Missy are now sisters in spirit, if not in fact. Their reunion at the Rose Parade is a wonderful way to show the continuity of life.”

Rachel was dying when Ransom’s heart became available to her. A once-active teenager, she had collapsed at age 14 as a result of arterial bridging. Interim repairs worked for a few years before stopping abruptly. Rachel was so ill pre-transplant that her recovery was a long one. When she finally left the hospital in July 2005, three months after Ransom’s death and her transplant, she wore the dress she had planned to wear to the senior prom.

“I am honored to be a part of this celebration of life, and I hope others can see how organ donation is the ultimate gift that one person can give to another,” said Rachel. “It’s incredible that I will be connected to my hero’s picture on the Donate Life float, and even more special to walk side-by-side with his sister in the Rose Parade.”

The 2008 Donate Life Rose Parade float features a balloon festival, with four colorful hot air balloons rising 30 feet high above 24 riders whose lives have been saved and renewed by organ, eye, tissue and blood donors. The donors are represented by 40 “floragraphs” – artistic portraits created with floral materials – that will adorn the hot air balloons, while nine walkers will hold tether lines connecting each to a floragraph of their loved one.

Hundreds of individuals, families and organizations touched by donation and transplantation will join the riders and walkers as float participants through the Family Circle Rose Dedication Program, which was founded by Laurie Wolowic, one of the eight float walkers. More than 1,000 roses will carry personal messages of love, remembrance and gratitude from around the world, adding an international dimension reflecting the parade’s theme, Passport to the World’s Celebrations.

Coordinated by Donate Life America member OneLegacy, the Donate Life float is supported by more than 50 official partners from across the nation, including organ and tissue recovery organizations, transplant centers, non-profit and for-profit contributors, and transplant recipient organizations. Joining OneLegacy as top-level benefactors are Astellas Pharma US, Inc., sponsor of five float riders and the volunteer decorating team for a third consecutive year; the Family Circle Rose Dedication Program; and the National Donor Memorial and UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing). All float partners encourage parade viewers to become registered organ, eye and tissue donors in their states and donate blood in their communities.