Huntington 5K run highlights importance of organ donors

The Town of Huntington is hosting its second annual 5K Run to Save Lives on April 6 at Oldfield Middle School in Greenlawn. April is National Donate Life Month.

The Saturday morning event is to highlight the importance of organ and tissue donation – a topic that Councilman Mark Cuthberson and legislative aide Michele Martines have experienced personally.

Two years ago, Cuthbertson’s son Hunter received a bone marrow transplant from his brother Aiden to combat aplastic anemia, a rare condition where the body is unable to produce enough new blood cells.

And two years before that, in April 2015, Martines’s son Christian received a heart transplant after he was diagnosed in 2012 with cardiomyopathy, a disease that causes the heart muscle to become enlarged. Martines credits her son’s donor, U.S. Marine Nicholas P. Brown, with saving the life of Christian and 4 others.

New York State currently has one of the lowest percentages of registered organ donors in the country, a figure that the runners hope to improve.

The Run to Save Lives begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday and costs $25 to register, or $15 for students 18 and under. There will also be raffles with a chance to win prizes including a private VIP box for 10 at the Paramount and two free tickets to any performance at the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport.

Click here for more information about the Run to Save Lives and to register for the race