Boston Med producer Terry Wrong and crew members at LA launch of The Match

Boston Med producer Terry Wrong and crew members Carl and Craig at LA launch of The Match: Complete Strangers with Tenaya Wallace of Donate Life Hollywood. Susan Whitman Helfgot was on hand signing copies of her new book which chronicles her husband's gift of a face in a historic transplant captured by ABC's Wrong last year while filming in Boston. The successful fundraiser will cover the costs of 8 documentary projects to be entered in next year's Donate Life Hollywood Film Festival.

Susan Whitman-Helfgot
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I'll Bring A Side Dish...

The Thanksgiving turkey sits in another oven, our family somewhat relieved having migrated to the smells and laughter of a different home. Better to sit and watch another husband still living carve the white and dark rather than to have our table’s head occupied by a replacement.

I pondered whether to bring along the silver gravy ladle that had belonged to my great-grandmother. At first thought it seemed having the dented thing with me might sooth the continuing sensation that everything has been destroyed. I tell myself that I finally decided to leave it in the drawer so it would not be lost in the holiday frenzy. In truth, it is because I am too raw to share, too angry to have warm memories occupy another woman’s kitchen.

The four children and I will go to my husband's grave tomorrow. We will pull the soft veil from the stone and stand together. I pray the dank earth will take pity upon me, releasing my grief. I am desperately waiting.

Susan Whitman-Helfgot
http://thematchstory.com/
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UNOS Wall of Names Sun and Tears

On November 12, 2010 I visited UNOS - the national office of the United Network for Organ Sharing in Richmond. After signing copies of "The Match", its executive director Walter Graham gave me a tour of the award winning building. I watched spellbound as organ placement specialists juggled their 3 to 10 cases a day - a kidney running late from the west coast, a heart just clamped with 5 hours to make it by jet to a major medical center. Rows of clocks with various time zones from Maine to Hawaii line the walls of the nerve center.

We left the building into the warm autumn sun that reminded me why I love the South. I touched the stone etched with my husband's name - Joseph at the Wall of Names in the Memorial Garden. A small line of water ran down from the brick, left from the morning sprinklers. It seemed to be a tear.

Warmly,

Susan Whitman-Helfgot
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Winning Review by Kim Bagato: The Match By Susan Whitman Helfgot and William Novak

The Match is a unique account of two lives intertwined as a result of separate tragic events. The text is laced with Susan Whitman-Helfgot’s raw and honest thoughts about her husband’s life and death. She and William Novak give readers a behind the curtain look at the lives of face transplant donor Joseph Helfgot and Jim Maki who was the recipient of Helfgot’s generosity.

In this age of lawsuits and malpractice, the credibility, enthusiasm and warmth of the surgical team are noteworthy. I’ve heard it said that we don’t realize how strong we are until we’re up against what seem to be insurmountable odds. Only then do we find the strength necessary to press on. Often that strength is gained in the company of loved ones which was the case with the Helfgot and Maki family and friends.

Joseph’s family endured tentative moments teetering on the precipice of life and death. The Maki family endured pain of a different kind when Jim sustained a life-altering fall. Horror turned to hope when Joseph’s family agreed to donate the face of their beloved husband and father for an historic transplant. Susan Whitman-Helfgot and Jim Maki are living proof that calamity can bond people for good. May the record books bear evidence of thousands of transplant recipients living better lives through the unselfish gift of organ donation.

To learn more about organ donation: Donate Life America – www.donatelife.net United Network for Organ Sharing – www.unos.org U.S. Government – www.organdonor.gov

Review by Kim Bagato

You can finally say: “I went to Harvard!”

Send in a review of The Match: Complete Strangers, A Miracle Transplant, Two Lives Transformed and an excerpt from your review will be on display at Harvard Medical School’s Joseph Martin Center this November 10.

Your name, city of origin and picture, if you so choose, will be on predominant display for guests to read as they celebrate the official Boston book launch at Harvard during our gala fundraiser celebrating Team Heart Rwanda. Susan will also send you a personally autographed copy of “The Match” if you are one of the first 10 reviewers to respond.

All reviews must be limited to 350 words and received no later than Monday, November 8 at 12 noon, EST. Have some fun. Always wanted to write a review that would put the New York Times Book Review Section to shame? Now is your chance!

Susan Whitman-Helfgot
http://thematchstory.com/
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Susan Whitman Helfgot with William Novak

"I started the book expecting to turn away. Three hours later, I set it down, in awe. ...The range of this book is astonishing... Because the focus shifts so quickly, the book reads like a thriller. And it is. But more, it’s a powerful account of people in crisis, when there’s no time to think and all you really have to go on is your character."

Jesse Kornbluth, HeadButler.com, October 20, 2010

Full Review below.

http://www.headbutler.com/books/non-fiction/match-complete-strangers-miracle-face-transplant-two-lives-transformed

We would like to thank Jesse for sharing your thoughts on The Match!

Susan Whitman-Helfgot
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Simon & Schuster: A Conversation with Susan Whitman Helfgot Part 3

Q. How did you feel when viewing the “Boston Med” documentary for the first time?

A. I was sitting next to Jim Maki and Bo Pomahac and other friends from the Brigham and we watched it together. They were finally able to meet Joseph, in a way. They never knew him in life. Film is a powerful medium. Terence Wrong, the show’s producer, and his crew, captured the final images of my husband three weeks before his death. Many new organ donors have come forward because of the show. I am deeply grateful.

Q. You didn’t meet Dr. Pomahac until after your husband’s death, and yet you discovered that their backgrounds are similar. Can you elaborate?

A. Bo Pomahac came to Boston from the Czech Republic two days after graduating from medical school. He had very little money and no job. Through hard work and talent, he made his way through Boston’s closed medical community to the point where he led a team of three dozen medical professionals through one of the most difficult surgeries ever performed.

My husband grew up dirt power on the Lower East Side of New York, and after a successful career as a university professor, he managed to fight his way into Hollywood, where he built a leading movie research company that now has offices on two continents.

Q. The decision to donate Joseph’s face was one you made with all of his children. How do they feel about the choice today?

A. We are all proud that our family was able to help Jim Maki, but the resulting publicity has been difficult for them.

Q&A with Simon & Schuster

Danielle Lynn, Senior Publicist

Susan Whitman-Helfgot
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