National Donor Day. On Valentine’s Day, the holiday that celebrates love, there is no more loving a gesture than to make this the day you join thousands of Americans in making the decision to give the gift of life through organ and tissue donation. Did you know?
- Almost 95,000 people are in need of an organ transplant.
- Every 12 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.
- An average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.
- Approximately 35,000 children and adults in our country have life-threatening blood diseases that could be treated by a marrow/blood stem cell or cord blood transplant.
- Every two seconds someone in America needs blood (more than 39,000 units each day) according to the American Red Cross.
There are several steps you can take today to help alleviate some of this burden:
- Fill out an organ and tissue donor card, register with your State Donor Registry and make sure your family knows you want to be a donor.
- Join the National Registry of potential volunteer marrow and blood stem cell donors.
- Learn how you can donate your baby’s umbilical cord blood stem cells at birth.
- Donate blood.
On this Valentine’s Day, choose to give the ultimate gift of love by giving the gift of life through organ and tissue donation.
Sources: OrganDonor.gov and Donate Life America website
Just passing by. BTW, your website have great content!
[...] will empower the choices you make regarding your health and medical decisions. In an earlier post (Valentine’s Day/National Donor Day), I brought the importance of organ donation to your attention. In this ER episode, a family member [...]