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Cherry Creek School District teacher recognized for organ donation awareness | HEALTHY BITES

By Nico Brambila January 3, 2025 | updated 7 months ago

Organ donation is personal for Niki Kigerl.

Her son was born with a rare liver disease. One day he will need a transplant.

The Donor Alliance will recognize the Cherry Creek School District teacher as a standout educator committed to raising organ and tissue donation awareness.

Nicole C. Brambila

Nicole C. Brambila

Kigerl teaches high school science at Eaglecrest High School in Aurora.

For more than a decade, Kigerl has impacted nearly 20,000 students through Donor Alliance’s Transplantation Science Program, a free program for 6th through 12th graders to learn about the science of organ and tissue donation.

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“Through her work, she’s inspired countless young people to understand the life-saving power of donation and what it means to get the little heart on their driver license,” a Donor Alliance spokesperson said in a news release.

With a mission to save lives, Donor Alliance is a federally-designated organ procurement nonprofit serving Colorado and Wyoming that partners with more than 100 hospitals.

The organs that can be transplanted are the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestines while bone, corneas, heart valves, veins, skin, tendons and ligaments are among the tissues.

As of September, more than 100,000 Americans were on the national transplant list awaiting donation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority are older than 50 and need a kidney donation.

Kigerl will receive the Donor Alliance’s 2024 Community of Excellence Award on Monday.

Editor’s note: Healthy Bites is a recurring update on health care related topics by health reporter Nicole C. Brambila.

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