Two Albanians in photo exhibit featuring organ donors, recipients

Sep. 8—ALBANY — An exhibit on display at Albany State University is putting a face, or actually 30 of them, on organ donation for a community that is in the most need of donors in the state.

The black and white photos, taken by Atlanta photographer Johnny Crawford, are featured in the "The Perfect Gift: The African American Transplantation Project" that will be in Albany through Oct. 29.

"Basically, African-Americans make up 64 percent of those (5,000) waiting" for transplants in Georgia, said Kendra Wright, education specialist for LifeLink of Georgia. "They are the least likely to give, but the most likely to need."

Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure are among the biggest risk factors for chronic kidney disease and kidney failure, and black residents in the Albany area have been particularly hard hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals with kidney disease are more likely to have negative outcomes from a COVID infection, and many people who have recovered from the disease develop kidney issues, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Kidneys are the most in need (organs) across the country," said Wright, whose team is devoted to education and outreach, particularly to African-Americans and Hispanics. "About 99 percent of the African-Americans waiting in Georgia are waiting on a kidney."

The reality is that there are many more on the kidney waiting list than those donors who pass away are able to provide, so the National Kidney Foundation is working to foster conversations about living donations through its "The Big Ask, the Big Give" project, she said.

Part of LifeLink's education effort is visiting churches and civic organizations, but the photography collection is meant to give a new perspective by featuring donors and recipients.

"This exhibit is a different way to highlight, visually, African-Americans and transplants," Wright said "We started this photo exhibit to raise awareness in kind of a different way."

Albany is the second Georgia stop for the exhibit, which debuted in June at the Tubman Museum in Macon.

Two Albanians, Peggy Lyons and Andrew Hobbs, both liver recipients, are featured in the photos. Lyons, who received her donor liver in the early 2000s and was a proponent of organ donation, died in an accident a year ago, Wright said.

"She was big in fitness," Wright said. "She was a reverend. She was at a radio station, just really out in the community."

Hobbs received the liver of a young Atlanta woman who was killed in a shooting along with her boyfriend, Wright said. Hobbs has bonded with the daughter who survived the shooting and the donor's other daughter and mother, and they are featured in his photograph.

The exhibit is open in Albany from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Fine Arts Center at Albany State or by scheduling a viewing by email to Charles.Williams@asurams.edu.

While most donors register while getting a driver's license, there are other ways for individuals to become life savers through the gift of an organ. One of those is by registering through Donate Life Georgia at donatelifegeorgia.org.

For information or to inquire about hosting the photo exhibit, visit LifeLinkFoundation.org/PortraitProject.