Give the Gift of Life During Donate Life Month
Give the Gift of Life During Donate Life Month
Ellicottville Central School Plans Large Event for May 28th
Photo Courtesy of donatelife.net
“For National Donate Life Month (NDLM) 2023, Donate Life America was inspired by the natural world of a pond coming to life in the spring.” Visualize the frogs and toads coming out of their burrows hopping to and fro. They are a sign of healing and renewal. The water lilies popping up are signs of hope. The roots have waited until spring to send their shoots out. National Donate to Life likens the water lily to the support and partnership needed for hope to bloom. The lily pads we see on the surface of a pond are part of a much larger, supportive plant rooted below the water. The water lily plant reminds us of the “support and collaboration needed for hope to bloom.”
More than 104,000 people across the country are currently awaiting a life-saving organ transplant. Thousands more are on the list for cornea and tissue transplants. National Donate Life Month focuses on registering donors and honoring deceased and living donors.
Numbers: Every 9 minutes another person is added to the waiting list for an organ donation. 17 people die each day waiting for an organ. One organ donor, eye and tissue donation can save and heal more than 75 lives.
Who can donate: From the national donor website: “People of all ages and medical histories should consider themselves potential donors. Your medical condition at the time of death will determine what organs and tissues can be donated. A national system matches available organs from the donor with people on the waiting list based on blood type, body size, how sick they are, donor distance, tissue type and time on the list. Sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, race, income, celebrity, and social status are never considered.”
Here’s the good news locally… Tamara Peters, teacher at Ellicottville Central School (ECS) eported this: “I myself received a liver transplant from another teacher at the school almost 8 years ago. Shannon [Palmatier] has two sons who have just recently undergone transplants. Several alumni and retired staff have also either donated, been the recipient of an organ, or are family members of a donor or recipient family.”
ECS is doing a full-day event on this topic on April 28. A representative from Connect Life will be on-hand with brochures, fact sheets and registration cards for students to take home to discuss with their families. At an end-of-day presentation they will share data, statistics and their own stories and pictures.
National Pediatric Transplant Week is the last full week in April. The focus for that week is on ending the pediatric waiting list. In 2020, more than 1,700 children were helped with transplants. Today there are more than 1,900 children waiting; more than 500 are between the ages of 1 and 5. Children respond better to child-sized organs; it is possible for them to receive partial adult organs, such as for the liver, which is what most children on the list are waiting for. The children under 1 are generally waiting for a heart. Those 6-10 are waiting for kidneys. Children are also on the list for donor lung, intestine, and pancreas.
Become Inspired: Dr. Aleksandra Gmurczyk, a nephrologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago wanted to educate her kidney disease patients and their families, so she decided to donate her kidney as part of a kidney-paired donation. This comes about when a healthy person wishes to donate a kidney but is not a good match for the recipient whom they wish to help. So, a swap takes place with another donor and it’s a win-win. Another way to donate.
How to enroll: Remember, you have the potential to save lives as a donor. You can start by signing up through your state’s registry. For New York go to https://donatelife.ny.gov/register/.
Teenagers 15 to 17-years-old may register their intent to be an organ, eye and tissue donor (you can do this while registering for your driver’s license at the DMV, at DonateLife.net or at RegisterMe.org). However, until they are 18-years-old, a parent or legal guardian makes the final donation decision. A parent or legal guardian must authorize an organ, eye, or tissue donation for anyone under the age of 18. Go to https://www.organdonor.gov/learn/process to learn more.
Do it. Give the gift of life.