Joshua Aversano Transplant Relief

Give Life Back to Families – The Joshua Aversano Transplant Relief Foundation

My name is Richard Norris. In September of 1997 I received a near fatal accidental gunshot wound to the mid face losing everything from the cheek bones down. After 15 years living as a recluse and after over 30 reconstructive surgical procedures to no avail  On March 19th and 20th of 2012 I received the most extensive and most successful full face transplant to date at the University of Maryland Medical Center by a team of very skilled surgeons lead by Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez. Since then my life has changed dramatically. After 15 years of living as a recluse I now no longer have to hide from society and I am now able to live just a normal life thanks to a very loving family and one remarkable young man who I am now part of his living legacy.

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My name is Rebekah Aversano. 3 years ago, I lost my beloved 21-year-old brother, Joshua Aversano, in a tragic car accident that ended his life.  My family and I were left devastated and have been grieving ever since. It was the greatest loss our family has ever experienced.
During this time, we made the decision as a family to donate Joshua’s organs and tissue to 7 patients who had been holding out hope for their second chance at life. Today Joshua’s legacy lives on through the people who received his final gift. The Gift of Life.

Of these precious people, 37-year-old Richard Norris became the recipient of the most extensive full facial transplant in history at the University Of Maryland Medical Center. Richard was given new features. He received teeth, a tongue, jaw, cheekbones, and tissue from his mid scalp to his collar bone ultimately given a new chance at life. His transplant not only gave him his life back but also restored the hope of many other patients who suffered from a traumatic facial injury, birth defect or disease and Wounded Warriors. He also spends time promoting organ, eye, and tissue donations as well as meeting with patients to restore their hope of having a better future and life.

My brother Josh was a loving, thoughtful, and caring man with a large sense of humor. He always made a priority of helping others. He carried a passion of wanting to help his community and decided to become a police officer after becoming a US Marine. He passed away shortly after being sworn in and starting training for boot camp. Though he passed away before his deployment, his gift of life allowed for his dream to be fulfilled, in that Richard’s ground breaking transplant was part of a joint research program of the DOD and Naval Office of Research that will help wounded warriors who suffer traumatic facial injuries on the battle fields.

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Receiving an organ transplant could add years, if not, decades to your life.

But undergoing an organ transplant does not come without potential risks: 
The risk of getting an infection, as well as rejection of the transplanted organ or tissue, and possible loss of life.

Most recipient candidates get placed on a waiting list. If and when they finally get the call that a loving family has made the decision to donate life it requires a lot of traveling. Even though organ transplant has become a common type of surgery it still takes a very skilled team of doctors as well as a hospital that is set up to preform transplants. This means that normally your local community hospital is not equipped or has the trained doctors on staff to perform these procedures. That means that patients and families will have to travel away from home in some cases hundreds of miles from their home to have a lifesaving transplant preformed.

Due to the high cost of travel expenses, many transplant recipients travel alone, as their families cannot afford to be with them during this difficult time due to the high travel expenses.  Our heart is to help facilitate a way for families to be present with their loved ones, as they undergo possibly the most significant surgeries of their lives. 

We, along with our families, have a vision is to create a non-profit organization to help families whose loved ones are receiving organ and tissue transplants. As well as helping those who choose to become a living donor.  We will be negotiating with hotels, as well as airlines and other travel companies to help defray some if not all the cost and or help to pay for travel and have lodging accommodation to families in need.

With the help from your generous donations it will help us to cover some of the expense’s that go along with starting a non-profit foundations such as the legal fees to file all the appropriate paper work, attorney fees, fees associated with obtaining a 501C3 tax exempt status from the IRS, fees associated with obtaining state tax exempt status, obtaining an office to conduct business, as well as all the other requirements we must meet in order to conduct business as a reputable non-profit foundation.

If you would like to learn more about us and our journey, you can learn more from stories we have been involved in:

"A face in the Crowd" with Ann Curry, a Dateline NBC documentary, which aired in July of 2013.

“My Brother’s Keeper” by CBS 60 Minutes Australia, which aired in May of this year.

 “Building Faces Rebuilding Lives” a TedTalk by Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, which aired in February of 2013.

 
We would like to thank everyone for taking the time to review our go fund me page, and for your kindness in your donations to help us in making it possible for family to be with their loved ones during a difficult time in their lives.