Dozens of butterflies took wing Friday from St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington, part of a twin celebration both recognizing April as Organ Donation Month and expressing gratitude for the gift of life made every day by organ donors.
“In 2024, we here at St. Tammany Health System had the privilege of working with six organ donors, and 10 lives were saved through organ donations,” health system President and CEO Joan Coffman said in remarks delivered just before the butterfly release.
“We worked with 17 tissue donors, and 12,075 lives were enhanced by those tissue donors,” she continued. “In 2025 in the state of Louisiana, there were 303 organ donors, 883 organs transplanted, 752 tissue donors and 56,400 lives enhanced. This is amazing, you guys.”
In addition to praising the health system’s clinical teams for their compassion and professionalism, Coffman made it a point to express particular gratitude for those in attendance whose lives have been impacted by organ donation.
That included Warren Whittington, a dual transplant recipient; and Paula Brown, whose 10-year-old daughter’s organs were donated following a tragic boating accident.
“We recognize that, though your loved ones have passed, their selfless gift has made it possible for others to live,” Coffman said.
Following remarks and a brief invocation, the dozens of people gathered were each given a small cardboard “cocoon” containing a butterfly and invited to gather around the flagpole in front of the hospital.
There, members of the STHS Public Safety team raised a flag emblazoned with the “Donate Life” wordmark of the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, or LOPA, an organizer of Friday’s event. Afterward, the butterflies were released as a symbol of the hope and life generated by organ donation.
Currently, 100,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list. Learn more about organ donation, including how you can register as a donor, at LOPA.org/donation.