Tour of Canada continues

George Marcello's walk of life for organ donation resumes

Everything went according to plan. After 769 days, George Marcello concluded his marathon, which began in Toronto on June 20, 2000. The Italian-Canadian Marcello, in splendid shape, remarks however that a lot of work remains to be done: "The official date for the conclusion of my long walk across Canada, which touched even the smallest towns, was to be July 27, but in consideration of the World Youth Day and the attention of everyone concentrated on the Pope in our city I decided, together with the police and city officials, to move that date to August 9."
On that day, Marcello will walk the last 10 km of his trek: from City Hall to Sunnyside Café, walking through Toronto's downtown.
Meanwhile, on July 26 Marcello held a press conference at the Market Lane Shopping Centre in Vaughan, in the presence of Vaughan mayor Michael Di Biase. These are the final stops in a long trip, enduring freezing cold and scorching heat, with the certainty to contribute to a just cause.
"I tried and raised a thorny problem, organ and tissue donation; raising people's awareness, underscoring that 4000 people are waiting for a transplant in Canada alone," says Marcello with emphasis. "People whose lives hang on a thread."
Like his own was, when in 1995 George was hospitalized at Toronto Hospital in desperate conditions.
"They expected me to survive for two more days," Marcello, 47, remembers. "I needed a liver transplant."
The organ was found and Marcello today is as good as born again. "I can't describe what I felt after the surgery. I felt better than ever, I saw my family and my friends rejoicing for me. I felt in my heart the need to thank another family, the family of the organ donor, a family mourning a loved one."
He wasted no time and decided to become a spokesman for a campaign in favour of organ donation. "A difficult way to go," agrees Marcello, "due to psychological barriers, subconscious fears, bureaucratic red tape, and outdated laws, but I think that we should persevere, never relenting, until things will change."
According to Marcello, support from the citizens is even more essential than from politicians. "At present, the latter almost consider this problem as a taboo," he says, "before declaring themselves and changing the laws they want to have people on their side. That's why I'm organizing petitions and shall take part in talk shows and other radio and TV programs where I shall encourage people to donate their organs for saving the lives of people who have this as their last hope."
Living every day with joy, not wasting one's life, loving anything that makes it rich and beautiful: this is the spirit that every morning George wakes up to.
"The gift of life is the most beautiful," says Marcello. "I lost my father four months ago, my mother one year and a half ago, so I suffered two painful losses in a short time. I'm saddened by the fact that they could not share my joy for finishing this long marathon, as they had always been supportive. I want to dedicate the Step by Step 769-day walk, a walk for life, to them, to my parents."

Publication Date: 2002-08-04
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=1643