Bill could increase organ donor pool As many wait, a bill may offer tax deductions for donors By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle An e-mail from Bellin Health this week told of Steve Shevey, a housekeeper at Bellin, who needs a kidney transplant. He has been on the donor waiting list for three years and has even placed newspaper ads seeking help. (He needs a donor with "B" or "O" type blood. For more information, call Shevey at 499-8180.) His story, sadly, is not unique. Ask Tina Sauerhammer, better known as Miss Wisconsin. Her father had waited years for a kidney, but did not get one before the disease claimed one. "He was diagnosed with Wegener's disease when I was 7," she said. "He was ill for quite some time. The last four years, he had kidney failure and we learned he needed a transplant. For four years, he underwent dialysis. That's very trying and you have no energy after it." Her father died in January. He was 45. That helped spark many changes in her life. As Miss Wisconsin, she made the importance of organ donation her program for public appearances. She acted on that this week in state Senate testimony on a bill that might allow more people to donate organs such as kidneys that can be done while still alive. The bill, which passed the Assembly overwhelmingly, would provide a $10,000 tax deduction for live donors for expenses, travel and lost wages while undergoing treatment. Introduced by Rep. Scott Wieckert, R-Appleton, the bill passed the Assembly 95-1. It's in front of the state Senate's Health, Children, Aging and Long-Term Care committee. The full Senate is expected to take up the bill in January. Sauerhammer was one of an impressive list of speakers testifying at the committee in favor of the bill. Others included former Green Bay Packer and kidney recipient John Brockington and Marquette University men's basketball assistant coach Trey Schwab, who is on the waiting list to receive a lung transplant. Sauerhammer said she had been contacted by Weickert to help with the bill before her September trip to the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., where she was second runner-up. "When I came back, Kevin Rompa (of WBAY-TV) wanted to do an interview about the bill. That jogged my memory and I contacted Scott," she said. While her father's plight didn't directly steer her toward medical school, it did help confirm her interest in medicine, she said. "This year has strengthened my dream. My goal is to save lives," she said. "I've been doing a lot of speaking engagements in different communities and for medical organizations. I've been in contact with John Brockington, and we're working together on a fund-raiser for next year," she said. "This bill is so important. It removes the disincentive to donate and should increase the pool of organ donors so people won't have to wait as long as my father did."