Thousands Participate In The Annual Dash For Organ & Tissue Awareness
By Suzanne Monaghan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – More than 8,000 people took part in the 17th annual Dash for Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Sunday, sponsored in part by KYW Newsradio.
Nellie Carnuccio walked in memory of her son Greg, who died nearly two years ago.
"Big guy, big heart. He was like a gentle giant."
Four people are now living because of her son, but she had never met any of the recipients and only knew their first names. But before the race she noticed a young man staring at her son's square on the donor quilt with tears in his eyes.
"He said do you know that person there? And I said, yeah, that's my son Greg and he said, 'how old?' And I said 27. And does he have a son Gregory? And I said 'yeah'. And a father Greg? and I said 'yeah'. And he said 'And a mom Nellie?' And I said, I'm Nellie. And that's when he said, 'I'm Wakeen'. So as soon as he said it, that was it, it was amazing."
Carnuccio says she's the one who got the gift by seeing that her son lives on.
