SEVEN FIELDS - What cannot be changed in one situation can change everything in another when it comes to end of life and organ donation issues.

Getting people to hear the message that organ donation is truly a gift of life and getting people to respond to it with some forethought is a constant endeavor by organizations like the Pittsburgh-based Center for Organ Recovery & Education.

In an effort to bring the faces and stories of local organ donors and their families to others, CORE has enlisted the help of the Clakeleys of Seven Fields.

The family has allowed a brief retelling of their loved one's young life and their journey through tragedy to appear as an inspirational message on CORE's Web site.

In December 2002, Julie Clakeley was 16, with a new driver's license bearing the 'organ donor' banner. For her parents, knowing their daughter's recent thoughts on the issue "made it easier to make the decision" after Julie was killed in a car accident. Julie had been a passenger in the family car driven by her father, who was also injured in the collision.

"We realized right away that she wasn't going to make it. She wanted to be a donor and we respected her wishes," said Julie's mother, Gail Clakeley.

Although trauma from the seatbelt prevented her heart from being used, Julie's liver, left kidney, pancreas and corneas were recovered and passed on to others.

One of the most common myths about donation is that priorities for saving the life of the donor might be adjusted if the patient is listed as an organ donor.

The medical teams attending the patient work diligently to save the victim, just as they would if the victim were not a donor. The medical team that performs organ and tissue recovery are a separate group that does not come on the scene until they are needed.

However, in cases such as Julie's where the prognosis is grave, there are members of CORE on the scene before death occurs, along with hospital staff members who have been trained in approaching the family with the suggestion of organ donation.

"If you get to the point where there's nothing left to offer the family - there still is," said Dr. Tony D'Alessandro, executive director of the University of Wisconsin Organ Procurement Organization.

Another misconception is that the donor has always met with a swift and unexpected demise. It doesn't have to be a traumatic death for organs to be donated, said Betty Duke, an administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Administration in Maryland. Duke's husband, who died of cancer, donated his corneas.

Both D'Alessandro and Duke were in Pittsburgh last week for the Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative, a symposium honoring 184 of the nation's largest hospitals for substantially raising the rates of eligible donors donating, as well as increasing the number of recovered organs and tissues per donation. Currently the collection rate is three per donor, with an aim to increase that number to 3.75 over the course of the next 500 days.

Also at the symposium were Sue McVey Dillon of Downingtown, just outside of Philadelphia; and Amy Luxner, originally from Carnegie.

McVey Dillon's adolescent son became a multiple donor, and she is glad more approaches are being made to families in situations similar to her own. "In 1995, I sincerely doubt anyone would have asked me (about donation). To think that I could have walked away from the hospital and then found out two weeks later that I could have donated. ... that would have been as horrific as the death," she said.

"The average person doesn't know about donation after cardiac death," added McVey Dillon, although organ donations most often are made by families of individuals who are pronounced brain dead as a result of brain injuries.

Brain death is not the same as coma, wherein people have minimal brain function.

Luxner, at the age of 26, had the heart of a 13-year-old boy nestled in her chest in November 1998 after spending eight months at Allegheny General Hospital on a ventricular assist pump waiting for a donor. "My donor donated seven organs," she said.

Whether it's one organ or several, "for the family it's the same," said McVey Dillon. "It's not the process. It's the outcome."

Here is some information about donating organs:Vital organs for transplant include the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestines. Eyes, skin, bone, heart valves, veins and tendons may be donated for tissue transplantation.Most people are eligible to donate organs. Age and a few illnesses prevent donation. The general age limits for tissue donation is 80 and 70 for corneal donation.Donated organs are given to patients based on the match between the donor and intended recipient's height, weight and blood type; medical urgency and time spent on the list.There are no costs associated with organ donation.Donation does not change the appearance of the body.Nationally, 87,000 people are awaiting transplants. At the six organ transplant hospitals in the area, approximately 1,800 people await organ transplantation, while thousands more are in need of tissue or corneal transplants.Between 10,000 and 20,000 people in the United States who are considered medically suitable for organ donation die each year, yet only 6,200 donate. On a national scale, 17 people will die each day without receiving a transplant. In our area, it is estimated two will die each day.Six hospitals in the region perform organ transplants: Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, UPMC Presbyterian, the Veteran's Administration Medical Center and West Penn Allegheny Health System-Allegheny General Hospital. Charleston Area Medical Center and West Virginia University Health System Hospitals, both in West Virginia, complete the list of organ transplant hospitals served by CORE.For information: visit www.core.org or. www.donatelife-pa.org; or call 800-DONORS-7 or 877-DONOR-PA.SOURCE Center For Organ Recovery & Education.