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ow issue of the Star. For the past six weeks, Dave and Sandi Irvine have been wait- ing for a phone call. That's the time Dave has been on the active transplant list, wait- ing for a new heart. Dave is 43, a native of Port Perry, though he and his wife Sandi have lived in the Whitby area for the last 15 years or so. Without a new heart, his chances of living til the end of this year are just one in ten. The waiting, Sandi told the Star last week, is "a nightmare." Over the past week or so, they have been in contact with several newspapers, a couple of television stations, "going public" with their personal and difficult story of life and death. Sandi believes there is a woe- ful lack of public awareness about the issue of organ transplants. "Transplantation is a cure for disease," she says. "The parts (for transplanting) are readily availa- ble, we just can't seem to get them." Dave is one of about 35 Onta- rio residents now waiting for a heart, and there are close to 400 others waiting for other vital or- gans like kidneys and livers. What Sandi wants to know (and change) is why the waiting for her husband has dragged on for seven weeks when every day, eve- ry minute is critical for Dave without that new heart. They have discovered, for ex- Long wait for heart a 'nig! A warm welcome was extended to Denise McNally, who just moved to Caesarea (her family bought the Beacon Marina), all the way from Alberta. The smiling 16 year old was chosen Miss Caesarea Regatta, dur- Ing the annual contest held In Putsey Park Saturday morning. For more photos from what turned out to be a highly successful Regatta weekend, see Inside this Vol. 122 No. 36 Wednesday, August 3, 1988 Copy 50° 44 Pages » o 3 Faced with a pending crisis on what to do with garbage, Durham Region courcil last week took some initial steps to address the problem over the long haul. At a meeting that dragged on for better than seven hours, coun- cillors endorsed several resolutions aimed at solving the garbage prob- lem, among them a target of 25 per cent reduction in garbage through recycling and reuse pro- grams by 1993. Currently, about two per cent of the total garbage generated in Durham is recycled. The council has also ordered Regional staff to find out how much it will cost a professional consultant to come up with design report on several waste disposal options such as a new landfill site, a large incinerator, and a combined incinerator/landfill oper- ation. MacLaren Engineering has al- $3 ample, that even though thou- sands of Ontario residents have signed the organ donor card on their driving licenses, hospitals and physicians are reluctant to take organs from the body of an accident victim without written consent of next of kin. According to Sandi, the reason for this reluctance, even though the victim has signed the donor card, is fear of law-suits by next of kin. She believes that many suita- ble organs are lost because of this. She feels that some kind of legislation is needed whereby hos- pitals and physicians who take or- ans from an accident victim who ad signed the donor card, would be held harmless from any future legal action by next of kin. She also feels that once a per- son signs that organ donor card, that information should be stored on a central computor for quick access by the medical centres which do organ transplants. In organ transplants, time is critical. For example, physicians 3 have only four hours once a heart is removed from a body to trans- plant it into a recipient. Tracking down next of kin immediately after an accident to get their written consent to take the organ is a time consuming and difficult process. Sandi admits that the topic of (Turn to page 3) ready provided Durham with a waste management over-view study, and company reps last week told the council meeting that it will take four years at least for ae eal Wi arnage A dit, 5% : Durham to find a site and get a new landfill opened at a cost of about $20 million. An Energy from Waste (EFW) (Turn to page 2) School break-ins Regional Police are still in- vestigating three break-ins at port- able classrooms at the Prince al- bert Public School late last month. Locks on the doors of the portables were pried open and a large number of school supplies such as paper, crayons, spray paints, penclis and pens were re- ported missing. Obscenities were scrawled on the blackboards, according to Po- lice who estimated the loss at sev- eral hundred dollars. Police are also investigating two break-ins in old Cartwright Township that occurred the night of July 29. One took place at a home un- der construction with the loss of about $1,000 in tools, including an electric saw. The other took place at View Lake residence while the owners were away for the night. They returned the next morn- ing to find the window on the front door smashed open. Thieves had made off with a colour TV set, stereo system and a VCR. Dave Irvine has been on the critical transplant list for almos - ing for a new heart. He and his wife Sandi belleve seven A RA Bg wait, and they want to see changes in the organ retrieval system in Ontario, plus better public awareness of the Issue of organ transplants. They've been talking to politicians and the media lately In an effort to boost public awareness. Mean- while, Dave 43, a Port Perry native, continues to wait. (see story for details)