Your Life is Always First
If you are taken to the hospital after an accident or injury, it is the hospital’s number one priority to save YOUR life. Your status as a donor is not even considered until every effort has been made to try to save your life and death has been declared.
Everyone Has the Potential to be an Organ and Tissue Donor
Your age or health should not prevent you from registering to be an organ, eye, or tissue donor. Most health conditions do not prevent donation and age is not a factor – the oldest organ donor was 95!
All Faiths Agree
All major religions in the United States support organ, eye, and tissue donation and consider it a generous act of caring.
There is No Cost to Your Family
If you decide to be an organ and tissue donor, your family will NOT have to pay for any medical expenses associated with the donation.
One Life can save up to 75
One person can save and heal up to 75 lives through organ, eye and tissue donation!
What can be donated?
Organs: Heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, liver and intestines.
Tissue: Skin, veins, tendons, bone, heart valves and connective tissue.
Eyes: Whole eye or cornea.
Everyone is Equal
When it comes to waiting in line for an organ transplant, we are all created equal. Wealthy or famous individuals cannot and do not get bumped up higher on the national transplant waiting list. Factors such as blood type, body size, location, severity of illness and length of time on the waiting list are used to determine the best candidate for an organ.
Your Decision Will Be Honored
For those 18 years of age and older: When you register to become an organ, eye, and tissue donor you are making a legal decision and, even after your death, your decision will be honored. It’s important to talk with your family to make sure they are prepared to honor your decision at the time of your death. If you are under the age of 16, you can still register as a donor, although your parent or legal guardian will have the final say in donation.
If You Don’t Make a Decision, Your Family Will
If you haven’t registered to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor your family will be asked to make a decision about donation on your behalf. Therefore, it is incredibly important that you have a conversation about donation and share your wishes with your loved ones.
You’ll be treated With Respect
Organ and tissue donors are heroes and are treated as heroes. The medical professionals who perform the recovery surgeries treat donors with the utmost respect, just like they would for any other patient. If you and your family were planning on an open casket funeral or viewing, these plans should not be affected by organ, eye, and tissue donation nor should it delay funeral arrangements.
Registering is Easy
Registering to become an organ and tissue donor is simple. You can register right now, online. Or you can check the box to register to be a donor when you apply for or renew your driver’s license, state identification card or learner’s permit.
Understanding Donation
Currently, more than 100,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants in the United States. Each year, approximately one-third of those people receive life-saving transplants and a hope for a renewed life. This is due to the generosity of individuals who at a time of personal grief think of others in need. Despite this generosity, the need continues to grow. Each day, 16 people die while waiting for a transplant. A new name is added to the transplant waiting list every 8 minutes.
Transplantation is one of the most remarkable success stories in the history of medicine. But despite continuing advances in medicine and technology, the need for organs and tissue is vastly greater than the number available for transplantation.
Imagine being tethered to a dialysis machine or struggling to breathe while walking up a flight of stairs. What if you couldn’t ride horse, play with your kids or travel? The gift of organ donation brings new life to people who are struggling with end-stage organ failure and allows them to once again live their life instead of watching from the sidelines.
Find out more from websites on our Resources Page.