SALT LAKE CITY Victor Pardini lived 20 years with the heart of a woman.

He received the heart, which belonged to a 35-year-old female aerobics instructor from Idaho, after doctors said he wouldn't live more than mere minutes after suffering a sudden heart attack. That was in 1995.

Pardini, however, lived until about eight months ago. He died from a kidney infection in August.

"He went through quite an experience for several years, but he really did lead a very good life," his wife, Karla Pardini, said Wednesday. She said the transplant process and meeting the family of the woman who gave her husband life has been "an incredible experience."

More than 123,300 people in the United States are awaiting vital organs, 800 of them living in Utah, according to Intermountain Donor Services, the federally regulated organ procurement organization serving Utah, southern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming.

"When a family is faced with making the decision about organ donation, it's often a traumatic event," said Alex McDonald, director of public education and public relations for Intermountain Donor Services. He said a lot of people have questions and a lot of those questions stem from religion.

"As you can imagine, when you're talking about death, heaven, hell and eternity, these things are extremely important," McDonald said.

Become a Donor

Representatives from various religions agreed Wednesday that organ donation is a very personal decision that can benefit families in many ways, but it is not a shameful thing if declined.

"Anything we can do to further life is a blessing, is a mitzvah, is a commandment," said Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, leader of the Jewish Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City. "We know we live on in the memories of the people we knew in the world and in the acts of good we do in this life."

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Religious leaders weigh in on organ donation