WFRV employee talks importance of organ donations

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – As an account executive on the sales team at WFRV, Shaun Kornusky knows a thing or two about making a sale.

“I like it because of the people that I work with,” he said.

On Monday though, he’s making a different kind of sales pitch about the importance of organ donation.

“Whether it’s your heart, kidneys, skin tissue all of that can be used and you can save so many lives,” he said.

When Kornusky was 12 years old, he had an experience that would change his life forever. He said he went into cardiac arrest and it was his mom who had to save him.

“My mom of all people was the one who saved my life, she brought me back to life after I was dead for a couple of minutes,” he said.

Kornusky has a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. His heart muscle is too thick which makes pumping blood to where it needs to go difficult. He says he has a defibrillator-pacemaker for his heart and that he’s had medical scares over the years.

When he was young, his heart condition meant that he could no longer play sports. As a boy, he said this was very tough to deal with since sports were such a big part of his life. He also said he had to deal with some bullying growing up because of his heart condition.

“I had to stop playing sports and that was rough on me,” he said. ” (When I got older I learned) how to adapt with it and how to really accept that I was going to have this condition the rest of my life.”

Kornusky lives in Green Bay and is married with two children. His heart condition means he has to take it easy when he plays sports with his kids and some everyday tasks like walking quickly are hard for him.

Recently, doctors told him that he would need a heart transplant.

“I hadn’t thought that I would hear heart transplant from my doctors before I hit 40,” he said.

Kornusky said his family has helped him persevere through all the adversity he’s faced throughout his life. He described his wife Shannon as his backbone and said he keeps fighting every day despite his heart condition for his two young boys.

“In my mind, there’s no other option than to be positive about it because negativity brings you nowhere,” said Shannon Kornusky.

Shaun got onto the heart transplant list about a month and a half ago. He said he’s eagerly awaiting that life-changing phone call from doctors that there is a heart ready for him. Shannon said she’s already made plans with a friend about child, pet, and house care should they get the call that a heart is ready for Shaun.

They said they look forward to what life will be like when Shaun gets his new heart.

“Can you imagine what it’s going to be like when you can play football with the boys and we can go on family walks and you don’t have to walk far behind us,” said Shannon.

Shaun’s friends and family are hosting a benefit on his behalf this spring to help him pay for medical expenses associated with his heart condition. That benefit is on May 10 from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m.

Shaun said that former WFRV anchor Erin Davisson was a huge inspiration for him throughout this process. Davisson had a liver transplant over 30 years ago after getting diagnosed with Wilson’s Disease.

Those interested in becoming an organ donor in Wisconsin can do so at their local DMV or by clicking here.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports that around 2.9 million Wisconsinites have registered to be an organ donor.