Amanda Dyslin
MANKATO — For those who stop by Raydiance Salon Friday night to view Bayard Black’s nature photographs, those who might not be aware about the cause behind the exhibit, Jeremy Kolars will serve as a reminder.
His brochures will list the facts: organ and tissue donation — how many are waiting, what is needed, and what you can do to help. His story will convince you of the issue’s importance.
Kolars, 28, of Mankato learned two months ago he needs a new liver. He has primary sclerosing cholangitis, an autoimmune disease of unknown causes that eventually leads to liver failure.
The news resulted in Kolars going on the list for a liver donation and an assessment of his current need. Right now, according to health-care authorities, he’s in OK shape to wait it out. His primary symptom is itching due to toxins being released into his bloodstream, which is being managed by medication.
Others, with jaundice and other advanced symptoms, are considered higher priority to receive a liver.
Everyone on the list, however, would have a shorter wait if more people agreed to be organ and tissue donors.
And that’s why Black decided his “I Saw Life” photography exhibit at Raydiance, a Mankato salon he owns with his wife, would be more than a display of his work. A close friend of Kolars, Black wanted to do something to help educate the public about organ and tissue donation.
“If I hadn’t known him, I wouldn’t really know much about it,” Black said. “He’s really tuned me into the need versus supply, and it just seemed like a really neat cause.”
Black is putting his photographs up for silent auction starting at $1 each, beginning Friday and running through Feb. 16. All proceeds will go to Donate Life America, a nonprofit alliance of national organizations and local coalitions that aims to educate the public about organ, eye and tissue donation.
The framed pictures, about 11 by 15 inches, are macro photography, meaning they are close-up shots of small things. All feature various aspects of nature in the Mankato area and were taken during a six-month period last year.
“Our goal with the show is to get one person to sign up that isn’t signed up (to donate),” he said.
Kolars is touched by his friend’s initiative to help educate people and by the donation of his photographs.
“I thought it was absolutely great,” he said. “Bayard’s one of my closest friends. ... (With) everything he’s provided for me about how to view life — he lifts me up every day.”
Kolars isn’t sure how long he’ll have to wait for a liver. He’s not scared at the thought of it, either.
“I have faith that everything will turn out just fine,” he said. “I have a good mind frame about this situation. It’s just a waiting game at this point.”
Kolars’ main focus during the exhibit will be to share information with as many people as possible about Donate Life America and to encourage them to talk to their loved ones about becoming a donor.
For more information about the alliance, visit www.donatelife.net.
