NEW YORK (WENY) - You often hear you have to guard your heart, but what if your life depended on it. For one local women battling heart disease, her heart beats are numbered. For the past 15 years, Donna Dacey's life has been filled with doctor's appointments, a cabinet full of medication and wondering when she's going to hear the dreaded words "you need a heart transplant." "After a lot of testing they discovered I had dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. A nice way of saying I have an enlarged heart that's not going to get smaller and the pumping action is weak," explains Dacey. She was diagnosed cardiomyopathy, caused by a virus, and congestive heart failure back in 2001. Since then Donna's heart has remained stable, thanks to cardiac rehab, a handful of doctors, a strict diet and medication …show more content…
However, when the time comes finding heart is exactly as hard as it sounds. " In 2013 we lost 560 men women and children waiting for an organ transplant," explains Assemblyman Phil Palmesano. For local Assemblyman Phil Palmesano this topic is all too personal. His sister was a two time kidney transplant recipient, one of the kidneys coming from him. He explains one person who who decides to be an organ donor at the time of there death can save up to eight lives and impact up to fifty. " I know this is an issue people don't want to talk about because you're thinking about death but this is truly something that can save lives," explains Assemblyman Palmesano. New York, has the second lowest organ donor rate in the country, just behind Puerto Rico. Assemblyman Palmesano used his own life experience to craft new legislation to get more donors. In 2015 Palmesano co-sponsored successful legislation requiring New Yorkers to check off "yes" or "skip the question" when applying for a license. Rather than the previous choice of being able to answer