ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996            TAG: 9602120011
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER 

LIVING PROOF FORMER DELEGATE URGES ORGAN-DONATION RESOLUTION

Ward Teel returned to the General Assembly Friday with a message: organ donation matters. He's living proof.

The House of Delegates recognized the former Christiansburg delegate Friday in connection with a joint resolution offered by Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, that designates April 26 as Organ Donor Day in Virginia.

Teel, 71, underwent a heart transplant in November 1994 at the University of Virginia Medical Center. He'd had a heart condition all his life, the result of a childhood bout of rheumatic fever.

The former Republican delegate, who served from 1973 to 1983, was at risk of congestive heart failure when the transplant was done after a 14-month wait, he said.

"The emphasis I want to put on this is to make people aware of the need for organ donors," Teel said before entering the House floor to stand with New River Valley delegates. People die awaiting organ transplants, Teel said, something that could be prevented if more people considered signing donor cards.

Griffith, who represents parts of Christiansburg and Montgomery County, got the message. With Teel and Del. Tommy Baker, R-Pulaski County, as his witnesses, Griffith said he signed the uniform donor document on the back of his driver's license Friday morning.

The House agreed to Griffith's resolution 99-0, after giving Teel a standing ovation.

LENGTH: Short :   39 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Former Delegate Ward Teel acknowledges an ovation from 
          the House of Delegates Friday. color.