2019 Carolyn Dickson

Name:                                     Carolyn Dickson

Type of Donation:             Organ recipient

Location:                                Fresno, CA

Transplant Date:                 3/23/2016

Sponsor:                                Honored by Donor Network West

CAROLYN’S STORY

Carolyn Dickson of Fresno, California lives her life in the spirit of service. She has served in the United States Air Force and belongs to the board of several community and faith-based organizations. She also champions environmental causes and works in community relations for a major recycling company.

Carolyn was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis in the 1970’s, a disease that affected her lungs. She depended on an oxygen tank or a concentrator to do any kind of activity until receiving a double-lung transplant in 2016 that saved her life.

The two years that she spent on the transplant waitlist gave Carolyn an even more acute sense of how, by joining causes greater than ourselves, one can make a difference in the lives of others. That is why she became a Donate Life Ambassador with Donor Network West; she has taken the opportunity to share her story and inspire thousands in her surrounding community.

Carolyn is alive today because of the generous decision of the Espinoza-Castro family to donate the organs of the family’s 37-year-old mother, Maria Castro Martinez. Carolyn and her husband, Larry, had the amazing opportunity to meet their donor family in 2017 and have since built a special bond with them. They have traveled and spent many holidays together, including Mother’s and Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
“When Maria’s kids place their heads against my chest, they feel close to their mother and remember her. As I ride on the float, it will be to honor Maria and the other donor families who help transform lives,” says Carolyn.