Advocacy Put in Action Deep Calls for Life: Seeking Organ Donor for Professor Deep Calls for Life, a student-led campaign, is taking to social media to help Chuck Elliott ’77, Senior Professor of Communication, find a kidney donor. This campaign not only demonstrates a deep love and support for the students’ beloved professor, but also addresses the need for organ donation. Elliott’s need for a kidney stems back to his 20-year teaching career at Hong Kong Baptist University. Teaching there was a dream come true, but life there was stressful, and he began suffering from d e b i l i t a t i ng h e a d a c h e s . Attributing the headaches to stress, Elliott’s doctor didn’t see the true source of the problem— damage to his kidneys due to untreated high blood pressure over several years. Elliott and his family returned to the United States in 2003 to try to maintain the limited function of his kidneys. This strategy worked for 19 years. In the fall of 2021, Elliott’s kidney function began to deteriorate at an alarming rate, resulting in an urgent need for him to be placed on the kidney transplant list. His kidneys failed in May 2022, resulting in Elliott experiencing nausea, chills, and a lack of appetite. His fai l ing medical health caused his doctors to recommend Elliott to begin dialysis. Dialysis is not easy. Each night, Elliott connects to a machine for 8 ½ hours as it fills his peritoneal cavity with a fluid that absorbs the toxins that his kidneys are no longer eliminating. This is the state of Elliott’s life until he receives a kidney transplant. The Deep Calls for Life campaign is doing for Elliott what he feels is impossible to do himself. “First and foremost, our goal is to find a kidney and live donor for Dr. Elliott,” said Chloe Largent ’23, a marketing major from Centreville, Maryland. “But we also want to be an advocate for organ donors because we see how important organ donation is to many people.” In the first 30 days, the group’s Instagram page has reached 1,400 accounts and received messages from individuals seeking to find out if they would be a good kidney match for Elliott. Students, past and present, have rallied support for Elliott in the comment sections. “Being part of this project has given me a glimpse into an area of hurt that isn't common to talk about,” said Sarah Force ’23, a communication and wor shi p ma j or f rom Springfield, Pennsylvania. “I didn’t really understand the struggle of waiting for an organ and what that looks like. I’ll be advocating for organ donorship well past this project.” The students who are part of Deep Calls for Life aren’t the only ones advocating for Elliott. The university’s faculty and staff were notified earlier this year about the need for a kidney donation of an unidentified faculty member, Elliott. Some faculty members pursued the idea, but no perfect match has been identified. Also, a project for the advocacy class taught by Heather Heritage is pursuing ways to assist Elliott in his quest for a donated kidney. Laura King ’24, a communication major from Dublin, Ohio, is leading the effort of advocating for a kidney donation for her professor. Elliott and his wife, Becky (Reid) ’77, have discussed how they want something good to come out of this difficult experience. “In sharing the hard times, people also get to share the good. When the kidney happens, it’s not a victory through me, it’s a victory through God,” said Elliott. “I have a group of people that are standing with me and get to share in the joyous conclusion of how God is going to bring this all together. And – there's a great communication lesson there. We get to practice what we talk about and now it becomes saving somebody’s life. It’s a pretty powerful thing.” To find out more information about Elliott and his story, visit the Deep Calls for Life Instagram page. If you feel moved to see if you are a match to donate a kidney, contact Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center at wexnermedical .osu.edu/KidneyDonor or by phone: 1-800-293-8965, Option 3. Cedarville Magazine | 13
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