The Difference it Makes
Organ and Tissue Donation Makes a Difference
Each year hundreds of thousands of Americans are impacted by organ and tissue donation. In Colorado and Wyoming alone, each year thousands of individuals and families make the selfless decision to give the gift of life by saying ‘yes’ to organ and tissue donation. Decisions such as these change the lives of more than 500,000 Americans who receive transplants each year.
Organ and Tissue Donation Saves Lives
Just one organ and tissue donor can save the lives of more than 100 people. Transplantable organs include the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, pancreas and small intestine. Tissues that can be transplanted include bone, tendons and corneas as well veins, heart valves and skin. Every year hundreds of thousands of people need donated tissue to prevent or cure blindness, heal burns or save limbs and one out of three people will need donated blood in their lifetime.
For some, the impact of donation may be small or go unnoticed, such as a person receiving donated bone in a simple dental treatment or in common orthopedic procedure. For others, the experience is life-changing and in many cases lifesaving. Lives of people suffering from heart and lung disease are saved. Corneal transplants help the blind to see. And donated bone helps restore function to crippled and injured limbs or allows a patient with bone cancer to avoid amputation.
With an average wait of three years for a kidney and up to two for a heart, it is only through the selfless gift of donation that people are given a second chance at life. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), nearly 100,000 Americans currently await a lifesaving organ transplant with 17 people dying each day due to the shortage of donated organs.
What You Can Do...
There are many ways you can ensure that your wish to donate is honored at the time of your death:
- Join the Colorado Donor Registry or Wyoming Donor Registry
- Say ‘Yes’ when obtaining or renewing your driver’s license at the Division of Motor Vehicles
- Inform your family about your decision to be a donor
- Include your decision in your living will
It is estimated that 60 million Americans have registered their decision to be an organ and tissue donor. Have you?
We are pleased to announce the creation of Colorado’s new specialty Donate Life license plate. CLICK HERE.
The latest issue of our quarterly newsletter is available for download as a PDF.
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For more information on becoming a Donor Alliance Volunteer, CLICK HERE.
