Organ Donation Facts
One organ donor can save up to eight lives. The same donor can also save or improve the lives of up to 50 people by donating tissues and eyes. More than 115,000 people in the United States are waiting for organ transplants. [Solid Organs: Hearts, kidneys, pancreases, lungs, livers and intestines]. Of these, more than 8,000 live right here, in the greater New York metropolitan area.On average, 18 people die every day while waiting for organ transplants in the U.S., and every 10 minutes, another name is added to the waiting list. In New York State, someone dies every 13 hours waiting for an organ transplant.Each year, more than one million people need lifesaving and life-improving tissues, and eyes. [Tissues: Heart valves, cardiovascular tissue, bone and soft musculoskeletal tissue, and skin.Only 19% of New Yorkers age 18 and over have enrolled in the New York State Donate Life Registry as organ. tissue and eye donors. Nationwide, the average is 43%.Anytime you are in a hospital, doctors will do all they can to save your life. Donation only occurs after the death of a patient is declared by physicians who are legally not affiliated with donation.The factors that determine who receives an organ include severity of illness, time spent on the waiting list, and blood type. Financial or celebrity status has no bearing on determining who receives a transplant.Donation takes place under the same sterile conditions as any medical procedure. A donor’s body is never disfigured and donation does not interfere with funeral arrangements. Open casket services are possible.If you’re a donor, your family does not pay any bills related to donation. It is illegal to buy and sell organs in the U.S. The system for matching donor organs and potential recipients is regulated by the Federal Government.The success rate for organ transplants is between 80 and 90 percent.
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