Donation Facts

DONATION: A CRITICAL NEED

One person can save the lives of up to eight people through organ donation and enhance the lives of up to 50 people through tissue donation.

There are approximately 100,000 people in the United States waiting for a life-saving transplant and 700 of those are on the South Carolina waiting list.

CRITICAL FACTS:

• Another name is added to the waiting list every 12 minutes.

• Eighteen people die daily in the United States because the organ they need will not become available.

While thousands of lives are saved or improved yearly as a result of donation, the need for transplantable organs is far out-pacing the supply.  An estimated 12,000 people who die each year meet the criteria for organ donation, but less than half of that number become actual organ donors. 

FURTHER FACTS

• Virtually anyone, regardless of age or previous illness, can be a potential donor.

• One organ and tissue donor can potentially benefit 50 people.

• Acceptable organ donors are those who are “brain dead” (whose brain function has ceased permanently) but whose heart and lungs continue to function with the use of ventilators. Brain dead is a legal definition of death.

• Donation does not alter the appearance of the body, it will not change funeral arrangements, and open viewing is still possible.

• All major religions approve of donation and consider it an act of charity.

• No costs are incurred by the donor family for organ and tissue donation.

• Patients who receive organs and tissues are chosen based on medical urgency and other medical criteria and not by financial or celebrity status.  This is done through a national organ allocation system to ensure fair distribution of organs in the United States.

• Advances in surgical technique and organ preservation and the development of more effective drugs to prevent rejection have improved the success rates of all types of organ and tissue transplants.

*Statistical information on this page received from United Network for Organ Sharing (www.unos.org ). You may receive up-to-the-minute statistics regarding transplantation in the United States on their website.  You can navigate to South Carolina by selecting:  Go to Data, State Data, South Carolina, Waiting List, Candidates, Overall by Organ.

Benefits of Organ and Tissue Transplantation