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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Neon crashes into Medford Puck's Doughnuts ... Malheur occupier convicted in Josephine County case ... Emergency Services ... Neon crashes into Medford Puck's Doughnuts ... Malheur occupier convicted in Josephine County case ... Emergency Services ... HEALTH CARE Medford organ donor featured on touring quilt Comment By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 18, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 18, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News With his life cut short at 17 years, Nathan Cadwallader would miss out on a lifetime of milestones. His mom, Dolores Cadwallader, remembers one he looked forward to: getting his license and becoming an organ donor. After Nathan was struck and killed by a truck while trying to cross Delta Waters in July 2011, donating his organs brought his parents a small measure of comfort. They said they felt they were helping him do something he had wanted to do. Nathan is one of more than a dozen Southern Oregonians represented on this year's Threads of Life Quilt, a project by Donate Life Northwest, an outreach organization that promotes organ donation. The quilt, in its 18th year, features squares that depict the stories of organ donors, recipients and families affected by organ donation. Dolores Cadwallader said a simple moment, weeks before Nathan died, prompted the family to agree to donating the teen's organs. "Before he died, one day we were talking and he had seen my driver license and wondered what the mark for organ donation was," she said. "I told him and he said, 'Oh that would be cool to do.' He hadn't gotten his license yet but said when he did that he knew that he wanted to be an organ donor. "When tragedy happens, you can barely think of getting from one minute to the next but you want something good to come from it." John Ogden, program director for Donate Life Northwest, said the quilt is an important outreach tool for organ donation. "There are more than 70 individuals on the quilt. Not only donors like Nate, but also transplant recipients who are honoring the memory of their donor, recipients of living donors on the quilt as well, families of donors ... it's an opportunity we offer to anyone who has been touched by organ or tissue donation." Ogden said this year's quilt, which will be officially unveiled in Salem this week, features 13 Rogue Valley individuals and their families. Ogden said myths and misconceptions about organ donation prevent people from signing up for donation, "so the more opportunity we have as an organization to promote organ donation as something that is positive, the more we can educate people and the more lives we will be able to save." Nationwide, more than 120,000 individuals are awaiting organ transplants, 3,000 of them in the Pacific Northwest. On average, 21 people die each year waiting for organs. Approaching the five-year anniversary of her son's death, Cadwallader said thinking of the quilt traveling places that her son loved to go, and some that he didn't get the chance to, offers some comfort. Knowing he saved three lives, she notes, helps even more. "They were able to donate his two kidneys and his liver. A Vietnam vet, a grampa, got his liver," she said. "He wrote us a letter and told us he had an incurable liver disease and had suffered his entire life and was barely holding on when all of a sudden Nate's liver matched him. He had been ready to give up. He told us, 'Everybody calls me a hero because I'm a vet but your son is my hero." For information about organ donation, visit online, www.donatelifenw.org . Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. Email her at [email protected]. By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 18, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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