It will participate in a flag raising ceremony at Frederick Health Hospital on Thursday, April 10th.
Frederick, Md (KM) The need for organ, eye and tissue donors is urgent, according to Infinite Legacy, a non-profit organization which helps facilitate these donations. “There are nearly 4,000 people waiting for an organ transplant in our area, Maryland and Metro DC,” says Adam Falzarano, a spokesman for Infinite Legacy. . “Nationally, throughout the United States, that number is more than 100,000 people waiting for a transplant. 13 people die every day because the life-saving gift they’re waiting for doesn’t come in time.”
Falzarano says these donors make a difference. “You’re literally saving lives. One person can save up to eight lives as an organ donor, and they can save and heal more than 75 lives as a tissue donor,” he says.
While there are a number of people who agree to donate their organs after they die, there is also a satisfaction to being a living donor. “You’re both still here, obviously. But you’re allowing that person more time with loved ones, with family, and giving them more time to live their life, and do whatever it is that they want to do,” Falzarano says.
While many people are familiar with organ donations such as liver and kidneys, Falzarano there are also tissue donation such as skin grafts. “We need overall more people to step up and register as organ donors after they pass away, but also step up as living donors as well,” he says.
April is National Donate Life Month.
Falzarano says anyone who wants to be an organ or tissue donor must be a match for the recipient. “Blood-type matching, tissue-type matching. Even something like size. You’re obviously not going to transplant an adult-size kidney into a child, or something like that,” he says.
For people interested in being donors, Falzarano says there are several ways for people to get started. “You sign up at the local motor vehicle office when you’re going to renew a license or a state I.D,” he says. “Or if you don’t want to wait until then, and you’re really gung-ho about saving lives now, you can go to inifinitelegacy.org, and register your wishes that way. They all go to the same registry so either way we know that you’ve made your wishes known to be an organ donor.”
A flag-raising ceremony to honor organ and tissue donors, and their recipients, will be held on Thursday, April 10th on the grounds of Frederick Health Hospital starting at 11:00 AM.
By Kevin McManus