April is National Donate Life Month.
Locally, more than 600 people are on the waiting list for an organ transplant, and nationally, more than 119,000 people are on the waiting list. An average 22 people die every day waiting for a transplant in the U.S., according to LifeCenter and Donate Life America.
Atrium Medical Center is located at One Medical Center Drive in Middletown.
Donation and Transplant Statistics
• In 2016, more than 33,600 transplants brought renewed life to patients and their families
and communities (from 9,900 deceased and 5,900 living donors).
• More than 119,000 men, women and children await lifesaving organ transplants (1,100 of
them are 10 years old or younger).
• About 58 percent of patients awaiting lifesaving transplants are minorities.
• Another person is added to the nation’s organ transplant waiting list every 10 minutes.
• 8,000 people die each year because the organs they need are not donated in time.
• 80 percent of patients on the waiting list are waiting for a kidney. The average waiting time for a
kidney from a deceased donor is 3 to 5 years. A kidney from a living donor offers patients
an alternative to years of dialysis and time on the national transplant waiting list
• 12 percent of patients waiting are in need of a liver. Living donation of part of the liver can help
these patients.
• Nearly one-third of all deceased donors are age 50 or older; more than 7 percent are age 65 or
older.
• Each year, there are approximately 30,000 tissue donors and more than 1 million tissue
transplants; the surgical need for donated tissue is steadily rising.
• A single tissue donor can help more than 75 people.
• 48,000 patients have their sight restored through corneal transplants each year.
• More than 134 million people, approximately 54 percent of the U.S. adult population, are registered
organ, eye and tissue donors.
• To register your decision to save and heal lives, visit RegisterMe.org. To learn more about
organ, eye, tissue and living donation, visit DonateLife.net.
SOURCE: Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network
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