Transplant recipient takes up cause

MARION - John Parham is using his stature in the motorcycle world to promote a lifesaving gift.

Parham, 56, president of J&P Cycles in Anamosa, sees his outreach as a natural fit, after a lung transplant gave him a second chance at life.

“I really have an opportunity to reach a lot of people,” said Parham, whose global company is touted as the largest aftermarket motorcycle parts and accessories superstore. “I've been very blessed. I'm just trying to give something back.”

To do that, J&P Cycles has printed 200,000 brochures on organ donation to insert in its mailings and distribute at events; Parham has blogged about his transplant on the company's website and he recorded a YouTube video to promote organ donation.

He also plans to speak during a forum at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Marion Public Library, 1095 Sixth Ave.

The Gift of Life panel discussion is part of this year's Linn Area Reads program, which encourages all residents of Linn County to read and discuss the same book.

Iowa City author Stephen Lovely's debut novel, “Irreplaceable” was chosen as this year's selection.

Lovely, 44, said having his book chosen was an exciting surprise.

The storyline is based on a university town in Iowa, similar to Iowa City, and offers ample material for discussion, both of which likely factored into its selection, he said.

Lovely was working as a unit clerk in the pediatric intensive care unit at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics when the story idea came to him after a boy was killed in a bicycle accident.

“It was terrible,” he said. “But his parents made the decision on the spot to donate his organs.”

The fictional story explores the lives that intersect when a 30-year-old man's wife is killed in a bicycle accident and he agrees to donate her heart.

Lovely, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and director of the Iowa Young Writers' Studio, interviewed transplant patients and donor families and researched heart transplants to write “Irreplaceable.”

He has met more people touched by organ donation since the 2009 release of his novel, including some who attended a March 24 Barnes & Noble discussion as part of Linn Area Reads.

Lovely also will read from his novel at 7 p.m. April 19 at Kirkwood Community College's Ballantyne Auditorium.

Saturday's discussion in Marion will include organ and tissue recipients and friends and family of living and deceased donors, said Tony Hakes, public affairs coordinator for the Iowa Donor Network.

“There's a lot of myths surrounding organ donation,” he said. “This is a chance for people to learn about organ and tissue donation and to hear from people firsthand about how it's affected them.”

Misconceptions include cost involved - there is no cost to donor families - and that a transplant would prevent having an open casket funeral - it doesn't, Hakes said.

Iowans can mark their willingness to be an organ donor on their driver's license and can register on the network's website.

Parham, whose lung transplant was in August, is encouraging people to discuss their wishes with loved ones who might have to make that decision someday.

He notes two realities: an average of 18 people die each day awaiting an organ transplant and motorcyclists have a higher risk of being killed in the prime of their life.

Parham, a non-smoker, received his transplant at the Cleveland Clinic, about three years after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that damages lung tissue.

“I was basically so close to death,” he said. “I would not be alive if I didn't have this transplant.”

His lung capacity has increased, but he faces the risk of organ rejection and still must take 36 pills a day.

Parham said bikers have responded favorably to his outreach.

“Motorcyclists are some of the greatest people in the world and they support all kinds of causes,” he said. “I really think we can make a big difference.”