GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The start of April signified the beginning of a statewide effort to get more people donating the gift of life.
April is National Donate Life month and the hope is that more people throughout the nation make the decision to become an organ donor.
When you’re at the DMV renewing your driver’s license, the decision to check the box to become an organ donor could be a life saving one.
Thankfully, the movement is already gaining support locally.
“At St. Vincent last year, we had seven patients who chose to give the gift of life and that resulted in twenty organs being donated through St. Vincent,” explains Ken Nelson, Chief Nursing Officer at HSHS St. Vincent.
The event at St. Vincent on Monday morning featured a carefully timed flag raising ceremony.
“We celebrate at 10:08 a.m. because every organ donor can potentially save up to eight lives,” says Nelson.
The need for donors is particularly pressing considering the staggering amount of patients nationwide that continue to wait in limbo.
The moment of silence following the flag raising was carefully timed to one minute and fourteen seconds to accurately reflect the number of patients waiting for a transplant.
“There are 114,000 people waiting for organs throughout the United States,” he says.
And the need remains high throughout the state, as well.
“Over 2,000 of those are right here in Wisconsin,” explains Nelson.
According to him, the message is being well received and officials are witnessing more and more people saying “yes” to the idea.
“In Wisconsin, over three million people have signed up to become organ donors,” he explains. “That’s over sixty-percent of those who are eligible to donate.”
Regardless of age, health, gender or ethnic or racial background, anyone age fifteen or older can register as a donor.
“When people choose to donate, they’re giving other people their lives back,” says Nelson.
In 2018, there were nearly 150 living kidney and liver donors, more than 200 deceased organ donors, more than 900 tissue donors, and more than 1,500 eye donors.
