Months After Heart Transplant, Woman Seeks To Give Back
Jane Tecce has the unique perspective of having experienced both sides of being an organ donor. Years ago after her son’s death at the age of 24, his organs were donated so that others could have a new chance at life. Now, Tecce herself is still recovering from a heart transplant that she received some 16 months ago. She also received a kidney transplant at that time. “My kids are starting to have kids now. I’m being a grammy. I can’t imagine not being here,” she said in a recent conversation with Patch.com. Tecce said that she was first diagnosed with heart disease about 12 years ago. Tecce moved to Lynnfield two years ago and grew up in Wakefield, graduating from Wakefield Memorial High School. Her family owns Santoro’s in Peabody, she reported. Her motivation to help spread the word about becoming an organ donor is not limited to just her own experiences. Tecce lost one brother, David, to heart disease when he was 51 and waiting for a heart transplant. A younger brother Jimmy, reportedly had a heart transplant in 2000 at Tufts and lived for eight years after that. “I’ve been on both ends of it. That’s what I feel is important,” she said. According to Tecce, organ donors and recipients actually interact somewhat routinely through email and letters if they wish to do so – although this typically won’t happen until a year or so after a transplant. In her own case, she met her donor’s family, who were from Rhode Island, on the one-year anniversary of the transplant, something she described as “very emotional.” Those who receive an organ transplant will face an elevated risk of infection in the months after the procedure, and Tecce recalled having some setbacks in the early going. “In the last six months, I’ve done really, really well,” she said, adding that she also hopes to return to work while also potentially doing some speaking and information tables for the New England Organ Bank. “I want to remember the people that gave me this chance,” said Tecce. To learn more about becoming an organ donor, visit the New England Organ Bank’s DonateLifeNewEngland.org website here. South End Patch
Two of ‘Boston’s Finest’ Give Inside Scoop on the Show
Two of the Boston Police Department officers featured on TNT’s “Boston’s Finest” reality show executive produced by Donnie Wahlberg spoke about having cameras following them, being on television, charity work and the New Kids on the Block. Ryan Mason, 34, from West Roxbury, and Skye Robinson, 32, from Roxbury, met up with Patch at Boston Police Headquarters at the same time. Patch: What unit are you in? Mason: Fugitive Unit – citywide. I started in BPD in 2005, and started in the Fugitive Unit in 2010, before that I was in District 4 and B-3. Robinson: I’m in the Youth Violence Strike Force. On the show it’s referred to as the gang unit. I started on BPD in 2006 in C-11 (Dorchester), and started in 2010 with the Youth Violence unit. Patch: Were you given a choice to be on the show? (Laughs….) Mason: That’s a good question. We were. We weren’t completely forced into doing it. I saw it as a good opportunity to promote the two non-profits I’m involved with – Parkway in Motion, and Cops for Kids with Cancer. And TNT and Donnie (Wahlberg) have said they will include the charity work in upcoming episodes. Robinson: Yes, I was. I chose to be in it with limitations. I didn’t mind if they’re filming at work. I didn’t feel comfortable with them coming into my personal life. Patch: Why did you want to be on the show? Mason: I think our department and officers we work with across the city is one of the most philanthropical group of people i’ve seen. As much bad as we’ve seen, we see a lot of good. I don’t think there is a profession that takes care of the community more than we do on the job and outside the job. Patch: Has the show affected the way you do your job? Mason: No. People do recognize us now. But it hasn’t affected us. We’re still doing things the way we did. You do get recognized by some people in the city due to large amount of advertising done. Robinson: No, not at all. I think what the show has done has made people a little more comfortbale in speaking with you. They see you and say “Hey, Boston’s finest!” No, I just deny, “No, that’s not me.” People we are stopping for police business, the first thing is “Oh, am I going to be on ‘Boston’s Finest?’” or “I can’t believe you’re on ‘Boston’s Finest.’” Mason: The day after the premiere a woman answered the door while I was serving a warrant (for her son) and asked where the cameras […]
Polls Give Markey Double Digit Lead in Senate Race
Two polls last week show double digit leads for U.S. Rep. Edward Markey over his Democratic opponent U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in the race for U.S. Senate. Results of a UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll last week showed Markey (D-Malden) leads Lynch (D-South Boston) by 29.5 percentage points among potential Democratic primary voters. The poll also shows Markey is leading over all three Republican candidates. Fifty percent of those polled said they would vote for Markey, while 20.5 percent said Lynch, giving Markey a 29.5 percent lead. Twenty-three percent said they were unsure about how they plan to vote. Markey and Lynch face off in the April 30 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by John Kerry’s appointment to Secretary of State. On the Republican side, Markey also led, according to the poll, coming in 19 points over former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez, 17.2 percent over former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and 23.2 percent over State Rep. Dan Winslow. The poll also showed Lynch leading over all three Republican candidates: 18 percent over Gomez, 17 percent over Sullivan and 24.5 percentage points over Winslow. A second poll last week, this one by the League of Conservation Voters, which is supporting Markey in the special election, also shows him with a double digit lead. The poll shows Markey at 42 percent, with Lynch at 28 percent. AFL-CIO not endorsing in the primary Both Lynch and Markey continue to bring in endorsements and seem to be splitting union support, however, neither candidate will get the backing of the state’s largest labor organization. The AFL-CIO has decided not to endorse in the Democratic primary. The Boston Herald reported this week that Steven Tolman, Massachusetts AFL-CIO president, said the union will work to defeat whichever Republican candidate wins the GOP primary. GOP candidates kick off campaigns, national TV weighs in With just a month and a half until the primary, the candidates are wasting no time campaigning, building teams and putting their all in the sprint toward the April Primary. Republican Candidate Michael Sullivan officially kicked off his campaign Saturday in Abington. This week we also learned Sullivan hired Richard Tisei’s former campaign manager to manage his campaign for U.S. Senate. His camp also includes former State Rep. Karyn Polito as his “campaign chairman,” Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk) spent some time with Attleboro Patch when he came through town to meet and greet potential voters. Winslow also got himself some national attention when MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow pointed out a discrepancy when he blasted his party last weekend for holding a straw poll at the Danversport Yacht Club. Maddow […]