Flag-raising at Packard Children’s Hospital Honors Lasting Legacy of Organ Donation

Stanford Medicine Children’s Health raises awareness for National Donate Life Month

Stanford Medicine Children’s Health held a flag-raising ceremony in the Dawes Garden Tuesday at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford to honor organ donors, celebrate recipients and raise awareness for the importance of organ donation. The event was held by the Pediatric Transplant Center as part of a series of activities planned during National Donate Life Month, celebrated each April.

Health care administrators and staff were joined by representatives from Donor Network West along with patients and their families along with those personally impacted by organ donation.

Wynne and Annie Vo reunited with their cardiologist, Beth Kaufman, MD, director of the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Program, during the event. The sisters were diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart disease that runs in their family. Wynne received her heart transplant 10 years ago, and Annie recently had her heart transplant in January 2026. This places them a decade apart in their transplant journeys.

“I think it’s pretty cool because I see a future version of myself in her, and she sees a younger version of herself in me,” says Annie. “And I think it’s really cool that we get to be here and get to experience life together, and that’s all made possible through our donors. Elizabeth “Lizzy” Craze is the longest-surviving heart transplant patient at Stanford since undergoing a heart transplant in 1984. “There were not a lot of hospitals in the world doing them on children at that time,” Lizzy said. “To me, the gift of organ donation means that I was able to grow up and have a normal life. I went to school, graduated college, got married, and I have a son of my own. Without organ donation, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that.”

A Lasting Legacy of Hope

National Donate Life Month honors deceased and living donors and their families, recognizes transplant recipients and brings attention to the thousands of children still waiting.

According to Donate Life America, more than 2,200 children under the age of 18 are on the national transplant waiting list and 27% of children waiting for an organ transplant are under 5 years old. More than 1,874 children were saved by the generosity of donors and donor families in 2025. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and a tissue donor can heal more than 75 others.

Currently there are 59 kids on the transplant waitlist for solid organs at Stanford Children’s.

Anyone can register to save lives, leaving a lasting legacy of hope. To learn more, visit https://registerme.org.

The Pediatric Transplant Center at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford is a national transplant leader with more than 30 years of experience performing pediatric organ transplants.