Saturday, July 21, 2007

Marshall's Jenny Kincaid, 30, will join a team of Texas organ transplant recipients to play softball against a team of North Texas media personalities, when the Texas Rangers and Southwest Transplant Alliance host their 13th Annual Texas Rangers Organ Donor Game today beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the Dr. Pepper Youth Ballpark.

Kincaid was born with a rare congenital disorder, Alagille Syndrome. She found out when she was sick that most kids who get Alagille need a liver transplant before age 9 or 10, if they need one at all. Somehow her liver made it until she was 29, although she nearly died soon after birth.

Kincaid has had cirrhosis her whole life, but her liver only began to fail toward the end of 2005. By May of 2006 she was on the transplant list and in June she received her new liver. Smartly, she is appreciative that her liver did not fail until now, as transplants were considered experimental when she was born.

Kincaid works as an administrative secretary at East Texas Baptist University, but is often referred to as an "Assistant Dean". She hopes to start graduate school soon, although she already has a master's degree in psychology, as she would like to counsel pre- and post-transplant patients, since she can help them walk a path that she has already walked.

The Texas Rangers and Southwest Transplant Alliance have partnered on an annual Organ Donor Game since Mickey Mantle received his liver transplant in 1995. That year, all of the Major League Baseball teams hosted organ donor games. Most made an announcement and had someone toss out a first pitch. After a few years, just a handful of teams still hosted the games.

Right about that time, the Rangers decided to step up the effort a notch, adding the softball game between Texas transplant recipients and Dallas-Fort Worth media personalities. The event is in it's 13th year and the softball game is in it's 11th year.

Since 2007, Southwest Transplant Alliance has rounded up a team of Texas transplant recipients and a team of Metroplex media personalities for a softball game at the Dr. Pepper Youth Park, followed by a first-pitch toss at the Rangers' game by a celebrity personally involved in organ donation. Over the years those celebrities have included members of Mantle's family, coach Tom Landry, Carl Lewis, Charles Haley, Greg Ostertag, Barry Zito, Fred Jacoby, and Ron Kirk.

Each year, the Texas Rangers have also shared messages about the importance of organ donation with fans in the ballpark.

This year, the media team once again represents most of the metroplex news outlets. The 2007 media team includes Anna DeHaro, of Clearchannel Radio; John Hammarley, of FOX TV; Jim Ryan and John Pendolino, of WBAP Radio; David Finfrock, of KXAS TV; Julie DeHarty, of KVIL Radio; Tom Crespo, of KDAF TV; JD Miles, of KTVT TV; and Jagger and crew from The Jagger Show and more.

Scheduled to toss out first pitches are former Dallas Cowboys teammates Everson Walls, and Ron Springs.

For more information about organ donation, go to www.organ.org.