In the wake of the recent passing of President Vaughn’s wife, Martha, a light has been cast on the importance of organ and tissue donation.
For a year and three months, Mrs. Vaughn waited for a liver that she never received. In the state of Florida, there are another 448 people still waiting for theirs.
While 22,800 organ and tissue transplants were performed last year, there are still many patients waiting for hearts, livers, lungs, skin, cornea, heart valves and bone.
According to U.S. Government information on organ and tissue donation and transportation, there are 94,000 patients nationwide waiting for a donation.
Each day, about 77 of those people receive a transplant, but about 19 die waiting.
While it is easy to become an organ donor, many people are unaware and uninformed about the requirements and the process, with many questioning their possibility of being a candidate. Most don’t realize that just about anyone can be a donor.
Although there are a few major exclusions based on health risks, people of all ages are considered as possible donor candidates. The only restriction on age is held for minors, who need parental permission to become a donor.
Becoming a donor is an easy process. By filling out an organ/tissue donor card or registering at a state donor registry, a person can become eligible.
The website, organdonor.gov/donor/, highlights the ease of the process.
There are many types of organ donation, and being an organ donor does not necessarily mean that a person must be deceased to make a contribution.
Living donors can contribute blood, platelets and bone marrow, since a healthy body can quickly replenish its supply of each of these tissues and fluids.
A few major organs can also be transplanted including livers, kidneys, lungs, pancreas tissue or even parts of the small intestine.
While the liver will regenerate and grow back to its original size in just a few weeks, other organs are simply not needed in their entirety for a typically healthy body.
Most donated organs come from people who have suffered major brain damage.
In the occurrence of brain damage, where the brain is no longer receiving any oxygen or blood, the body and its organs are preserved.
The organs can be taken and transported to a needy patient within six to 72 hours.
The most extreme case of donation is the whole body donation.
People who would like to donate their entire body to medical and research studies can do so by making arrangements with a specific medical organization.
The organs and tissue from one person is enough to save as many as 50 people.
“Martha Vaughn could be alive today if the liver donation had been made,” said her close friend Joyce Keller. “Transplantation saves lives but only if you decide to help and let others know.”
While many patients are optimistic that they will receive their donation in time, the wait is long, sometimes too long.
“The last time I spoke to her, she was so positive and so hopeful about the transportation,” said Mrs. Vaughn’s friend Mercedes Karl. “It just breaks my heart.”
For more information on how to become an organ and tissue donor, contact The Life Link Foundation at www.lifelinkfund.org.
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