Bedford's Kory Boglarski, Athlete and Heart Recipient, Will Run in the 2014 Boston Marathon

Kory Boglarski will join 18 other Bedford Runners in Monday's Boston Marathon - Courtesy photo — *Kory Boglarski will join 18 other Bedford Runners in Monday’s Boston Marathon – Courtesy photo*

Compiled by The Bedford Citizen

Runners in the 2014 Boston Marathon will begin to sign in and collect their bibs at the Hynes Convention Center tomorrow. Among them will be 19 Bedford residents: Kory Boglarski, Richard Callahan, Jr., Tara Capobianco, Hugh Knapp, Christopher Kovalchick, Roger Little, Laura McGinness, Cabul Mehta, Kristin Moore, Craig Olson, Joanne Ricardelli, Everett Spain, Julia Spain, Nathaniel Thomas, Gabriel Tkacik, David Webster, Austin Whelan, Jennifer Whittle, and Fort Bryan Wilkerson.

Kory Boglarski, a heart recipient will run his second marathon but his first Boston Marathon. He will run in honor of the donor that gave him his second chance at life in 1996. Kory had originally planned to run the race in 2016, commemorating the 20^th anniversary of his heart transplant but when his sister, a spectator at last year’s race, was injured in the finish line bombings, he decided 2014 would be the year he would run. He will proudly wear a shirt that says ‘Heart Transplant Survivor’ to promote organ and tissue donation.

April is National Organ Donor Awareness Month

There are currently over 5,000 patients waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in New England, and over 120,000 across the United States. Sadly, an average of 18 patients dies every day while waiting, simply because the organ they needed did not become available in time. This easiest way for individuals to register as a donor is to do so when they renew their driver’s license or to sign up online at www.DonateLifeNewEngland.org. Like the driver’s license designation, the Donate Life New England Donor Registry is a computer database of individuals who have made the decision to be a donor and can be accessed in timely way after an individual’s passing so that their wish to donate may be honored.

About New England Organ Bank: New England Organ Bank is the federally-designated, non-profit procurement organization responsible for the surgical recovery of organs and tissues for transplant throughout the New England region.
About Donate Life New England: Donate Life New England is a joint project of two federally designated organ procurement organizations that serve New England – LifeChoice Donor Services and New England Organ Bank.They have come together to create a fast and easy way for citizens of New England to register as organ and tissue donors in a secure and confidential manner. For more information, visit www.donatelifenewengland.org.