How one decision can save lives and shape futures
TAUNTON — Kenny Laferriere, from Charlton, was only 8 when he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He underwent surgery and chemotherapy and remained on medication for it for much of his youth.
At age 17, he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a disease that affects the heart muscle and makes it harder for it to pump blood throughout the body.
He told the Gazette doctors said his disease was the result of his chemotherapy and medication damaging his heart.
Laferriere needed a heart transplant to survive and, thankfully, received one in 2001.
Laferriere, now 42, works with New England Donor Services (NEDS), based in Waltham, which coordinates organ and tissue donation with medical centers across the region that perform transplants.
He spoke recently at an organ donor awareness event organized by NEDS and city of Taunton about the transplant he received 25 years ago and how it not only gave him more life, but, essentially, molded the future. A new heart allowed him to go to college, get married and have children of his own.
“Because someone saved my life, my wife and I were able to bring new life in the world,” he said about his two boys, now 14 and 10. “A donation has a ripple effect.”
Saving lives
Senior Director of Government Relations for NEDS Matt Boger said during the organization’s “Have a Heart and Get a Heart” campaign event at Taunton City Hall, on February 13, that registering as an organ donor is about providing hope for others. “If you no longer need them, someone else’s life can be saved,” he said.
“Every day, lives are saved because someone made the selfless decision to be an organ donor,” said Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell at the event.
She and other elected local and state officials, including State Sen. Kelly Dooner, State Rep. Lisa Field, and staff on behalf of State Rep. Justin Thurber, all attended the event in support of the donor registration and to each give citations or certificates of recognition to NEDS for its continued work securing donors and successful transplants.
Boger explained that only roughly 3% of all deaths that occur have the potential to lead to organ donation because “you have to pass away in a hospital, while on a respirator,” with blood and oxygen running through them, in order for the organs to be salvageable.
Boger also said that roughly 16 people die every day just waiting for a transplant.
That’s why, he said, it’s so important to register with the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which can be done when you are renewing your driver’s license, or really at any time. It’s as simple as checking a box off on your application when at the RMV, or doing it online at RMV’s website.
A registered donor is indicated by a red heart on one’s driver’s license.
According to a written statement, NEDS coordinated 1,692 transplants from 640 deceased donors in 2025. Boger added one registered donor has the potential to save up to eight lives with their organs.
Impacts everyone
Irene Frechette, from Seekonk, is a volunteer with NEDS who also spoke of her personal experience with organ donation at the Feb. 13 event. Neither a donor, nor a recipient, she spoke of her grandson, Timothy, who died in December 2024 after succumbing to injuries in a motorcycle accident. He was 31. Frechette declined to disclose Tim’s last name to the Gazette, saying she was maintaining her family’s privacy.
Frechette told the room her grandson’s “heart was salvageable” when he was on respiration, and he was registered as an organ donor.
That same month Timothy’s heart was transplanted into the body of a military veteran who had two failed transplants prior to getting Tim’s heart, said Frechette.
“The person only had weeks left to live” she said about the recipient, adding the third time was the charm with a successful transplant.
Over a year later, Frechette feels, with her grandson’s heart continuing to beat in the body of another, “it’s like never having to let Tim go.”
Laferriere told Frechette live during the event it is people like Frechette’s grandson that “are why I’m still alive,” adding the person’s legacy continues through the gift of being a donor.
How to register
Boger said 98% of those who register as organ donors do so through the RMV.
Registering can be done via application when you renew your driver’s license, or you can Register as an organ donor at the RMV | Mass.gov website.
You can also register with the National Donate Life Registry as an organ donor through New England Donor Services or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
You can learn more by watching the video of the event hosted by NEDS and City of Taunton, recorded by Taunton Community Access and Media.
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