Raymond Jonasson grew up in Ancaster, ON, where he attended high school, played on several teams, and first signed an organ donor card. He attended McMaster University, graduating with a B.Sc. in Geology. Ray took advantage of mineral exploration jobs to see much of this beautiful country, from Nfld to Nunavut to B.C. before spending a few years in California and Mexico.
Returning to Canada, Raymond earned an MBA degree from McMaster. Meanwhile, he joined a running team. By the mid-1990’s, Raymond was one of the top runners in his age group at any distance from 800m through marathon. This came to a sudden end with the diagnosis of severe liver disease in late 1996. Determined to be alive to see his young daughter graduate from university, Raymond undertook a massive lifestyle change to stay healthy and off the transplant list as long as possible.
He lasted over 12 years before being added to the transplant list in January, 2009. In May, 2010, he was declared medically unfit to work . Finally, in July 2011, the call came from the hospital. As a member of the LDAA, Raymond is paying this second chance at life forward by continuing to raise awareness of the desperate need for more organ donors.