Register to Become an Organ Donor this Donate Life Month

April is National Donate Life Month – a time to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation, encourage individuals to register as donors and honor those who have saved and healed lives through the gift of donation.

Across the United States, there is a critical and growing need for registered donors, which is most easily put into perspective when reviewing the current statistics:

• There are more than 100,000 men, women and children on the national waitlist who are in need of a lifesaving organ transplant. That’s enough people to fill the entire University of Michigan Football Stadium, aka “The Big House.”
• Every nine minutes, another person is added to the list.
• 85% of patients on the waiting list are in need of a kidney, who can be helped from both deceased and living donations.
• 17 people die each day waiting for a transplant.

UP Health System – Marquette partners with the University of Wisconsin Organ and Tissue Donation, its federally-designated organ procurement organization, to provide the best possible support for families and care for patients who give the precious gift of life. In 2021, our hospital helped honor the wishes of eight donor patients, providing 16 organs to 14 patients awaiting transplants.

“Organ donation decisions come at a time of profound sadness and stress for families,” said Bronwyn Roell, RN, Hospital Supervisor for UP Health System - Marquette. “That’s why it’s so important for individuals to learn about donation and make their wishes known before the unthinkable occurs.”

One person has the power to save up to eight lives through organ donation and heal 75 more through eye and tissue donation. To learn more or register in Michigan, go to GiftofLifeMichigan.org. To sign up on a different state registry, visit DonateLife.net.

Together, we can help shorten the waiting list, impact lives, and make our communities healthier.