April is Donate Life Month

Organ and tis­sue dona­tion is a gift that saves and heals hun­dreds of thou­sands of lives each year. It can pro­vide com­fort and solace to donor fam­i­lies as their loved ones leave a last­ing lega­cy of hope and heal­ing. For trans­plant recip­i­ents and patients on the trans­plant wait­ing list the gift of dona­tion offers a sec­ond chance at life; a chance to move for­ward and ful­fill the lega­cy left behind by their gra­cious donor.

Trans­plan­ta­tion is seen as one of the great­est achieve­ments of mod­ern med­i­cine. Organ and tis­sue dona­tion saves and enhances lives. It gives indi­vid­u­als the abil­i­ty to return to pro­duc­tive, ful­fill­ing lives.

Despite con­tin­u­ing advances, the need for organs and tis­sue is vast­ly greater than the num­ber avail­able for trans­plant. Cur­rent­ly there are more than 100,000 peo­ple in the Unit­ed States on the trans­plant wait­ing list, includ­ing more than 500 peo­ple in Iowa. Talk­ing to your loved ones about dona­tion, and know­ing the facts is the most influ­en­tial way to spread the word about the ben­e­fi­cial impact of organ, eye and tis­sue donation.

Stats and Facts

• Every 8 min­utes a new per­son is added to the nation­al organ trans­plant wait­ing list.
• An aver­age of 16 peo­ple die each day while wait­ing for an organ transplant.
• On aver­age, 115 trans­plants take place every­day in the U.S.
• In 2023, the lives of more than 43,000 Amer­i­cans were saved through organ transplants.
• One donor can save up to 8 lives through organ dona­tion and enhance between 50 – 300 lives through tis­sue donation.
• Every driver’s edu­ca­tion class in Iowa must have one edu­ca­tion­al ses­sion on organ, tis­sue, and eye dona­tion for their students.
• The U.S. achieved its 1 mil­lionth organ trans­plant, more than any oth­er coun­try in the world and a his­tor­i­cal mile­stone in the world of transplant.

Becoming a donor is easy.  There are a few different ways to register as a donor in Iowa:

• The easiest way is to register online by going to www.iowadonornetwork.org.
• Say YES to becoming a donor when receiving or renewing your driver’s license.
• Say YES to becoming a donor when purchasing a hunting, fishing, or fur harvester license through the Department of Natural Resources.

For more information, please call the Iowa Donor Network at 800-831-4131.