Hard Truths about Organ Transplant

17 people die every day while waiting for an organ transplant that doesn’t come in time.

Recently, a young transplant acquaintance passed away waiting for organs that never came.  He received his first heart transplant as a young child, and I became online friends with his mother through transplant related groups.  Around the same time that I began my journey to seek a second heart transplant, he was told that he would need another transplant as well.  My journey concluded with my successful second heart transplant almost five years ago.  His story ended without a transplant happening in time.

Monday, September 18, marks the beginning of Organ Donation Week.  This is celebrated in the UK as well as Canada and Australia.  In the United States, we celebrate Organ Donor Month during April each year.  However, we can also bring our focus back to organ donation during the coming week.

According to the UNOS website, over 103,000 people are currently waiting for organ transplants, and through August, 31,120 transplants have been performed in the United States with 15,415 donors contributing to that total.  A single donor can save the lives of up to 8 people through organ donation and improve the lives of countless others through tissue donation. 

Per organdonor.gov, as of 2022, 170 million people in the U.S. have registered to be donors upon their death. That’s 58% of people who are eligible to register as donors.  However, not everyone who registers as a donor is able to donate. In fact, only 3 in 1,000 people die in a way that allows for deceased organ donation. That’s why more willing donors are needed.

Only half of all people who are eligible to register as organ donors have done so.  If we doubled the number of registered donors, we could potentially cut in half the number of people who die on the transplant waiting list. Register to be an organ donor at this link: Organ Donation

There is also a critical shortage of blood donors.  You can sign up to be a blood donor at this link: American Red Cross Blood Drives

Please speak with your family and friends and let them know your intentions to be an organ donor as well as registering at the link above.  Many people have living wills and advance directives for their end-of-life care, but please make sure that your organ donation wishes are documented in these important papers.  You could make saving a life your final act and legacy.