Days in 2018, we have some great statistics on 2017!
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), over 10,000 organ donations were made, marking the first year that number has been reached!
Looking closer into the stats, nearly 35,000 organ transplants were done – a 3.4 percent increase over 2016. About 18 percent of these were from living donors — people who donated a kidney or a part of their liver to someone else.
“We are grateful that more lives are being saved, year after year, thanks to the boundless generosity of organ donors,” said Dr. Yolanda Becker, president of the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/UNOS Board of Directors.
But according to UNOS, 115,000 Americans remain on waiting lists for organ transplants, UNOS says. So while the news is heartening, it’s important to raise awareness about the need for organ donors.
Click here to register as an organ donor.
There still exists a stigma on being an organ donor.
Some fear that being a registered organ donor will demotivate medical professional from performing life-saving methods should you be in such a situation (which is untrue) or others fear that their religion prohibits organ donation (also untrue – all major religions in the United States support donation and see it as a final act of love toward others).
It’s just a matter of learning the facts and raising awareness. Read more about battling the stigma here.
And the best thing you can do to convince others – or yourself – about the importance of being an organ donor is recognizing the very human side to this.
Click here to read about 13-year-old Stefany Atencio of Netcong, New Jersey who received a lung – and her organ donor Victoria Arias, who wile sadly passed at the young age of 18, saved many lives (including Stefany’s), because of her organ donor status.
