Southwest Transplant Alliance

Perhaps there was the resemblance to the teenage daughter Edna Guerra lost two years ago to a vehicle accident, or simply some relief from knowing that a tough decision helped another family. But on Sunday, the Las Crucen held on tightly to Lawrencia Keys as if they had known each other far longer than just a few minutes. "I was nervous but I feel pretty good now," she said after meeting Keys, whose life has improved since February 2006, when she received a kidney from Guerra's daughter, Sabrina Aguilar.

The pair of families were brought together during the Southwest Transplant Alliance's annual Donor Family Celebration that drew more than 200 people Sunday afternoon to the Camino Real Hotel in Downtown.

Keys, 18, of Port Arthur, Texas, said she thinks every day about the gift she received from generous people hundreds of miles away.

"If it wasn't for Edna and her family, I wouldn't be here right now," she said.

Aguilar also donated another kidney, a pancreas and a liver, helping to save three other people.

Daryl Crouch, of Forney, Texas, who received Aguilar's liver, also was at Sunday's celebration.

There, the names and faces, young and old, of area residents who died but gave their organs to others flashed across a video screen as many of their families in the audience waited for a glimpse of their loved ones.

El Paso Mayor John Cook strummed his guitar, sang about selflessness and encouraged more people to become organ donors at the event.

Aguilar was 15 when she died in an El Paso hospital from injuries suffered in an all-terrain-vehicle accident.

The teenager was not a donor but a family discussion at the hospital persuaded Guerra to donate her daughter's organs.

"It made sense because she was always a giving person and so full of life," Guerra said about the girl who was a fierce basketball player and loved picnics and barbecues with her family.

"If I were to see her again, I know she would tell me I did a good thing," she said.

Before the transplant, Keys' life revolved around dialysis treatments several times a week. Neural tube defect spina bifida had yielded Keys a small bladder and kidney trouble.

Most days were difficult for Keys. Then her condition turned dire.

"When they told me that my fistula had stopped working, I told my mom, 'I'm done. I can't keep living like this,'" she said. "That's the day when we got the call, it was Valentine's, that there was a kidney available."

Keys and her mother rushed to Galveston for the successful transplant and much has changed. "I'm just glad to see her so happy and excited, she's so full of life," Rolanda Keys said of her daughter. "She always wanted to be like all the other kids, go to a lot of places and do things and she couldn't do that before."

Lawrencia Keys is studying criminal justice at Lamar State College in Port Arthur and will soon begin work as a correctional officer.

Pam Silvestri, a spokeswoman for Southwest Transplant Alliance, said more people in the past three years have become organ donors.

"We used to see about an average of 5,000 organ donors a year in the whole country and now we're at about 7,000," she said, adding that becoming a donor is critical. "People like Lawrencia are waiting on those lists and, every single day, about 18 people die waiting. Every year, we're looking at about 6,000 people who die."

Silvestri said a registry in Texas is making it easier for people to sign up as organ donors. It also helps make clear to families the wishes of donors.

Lawrencia Keys hopes more people learn about organ donations and sign up.

"You never know whose life you are saving or whose life you will change," she said.

Learn more

To register as an organ donor in Texas go online to www.donatelifetexas.org or www.donatevidatexas.org

For more information about organ donation go online to organ.org