Organ Donation

More than 90,000 people in the United States are currently in need of organ transplants --7,000 in the Greater New York Metro area alone. Each day, they wait and they pray along with their loved ones that they’ll be able to have a second chance at life.

April is National Donate Life Month.  You can pledge to give the gift of life to someone in need of an organ or tissue transplant by indicating your wish to make an anatomical gift through New York State’s Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. This confidential database is administered by the New York State Department of Health.

Those who are considering donation should know that by donating at the time of death, a single donor can help as many as 50 people in need. There are people waiting for kidneys to free them from dialysis; hearts to sustain their lives; and corneas to help them see again. Skin tissue can be used to help burn victims and musculoskeletal tissue can replace bone tendons and ligaments lost to cancer, trauma, joint disease and arthritis.

Since being launched in 2000, 1.1 million New Yorkers have enrolled in the registry, or 5.8 percent of our state’s total population. Yet the need for organs far exceeds the number that becomes available. About 540 New Yorkers die each year due to the shortage of donors.

I encourage local residents to enroll in the registry and speak with their families and loved ones about their wishes regarding their organs and tissue in the event of death. In New York State, families must give final permission for organ and tissue donation.

For more information of organ donation, CLICK HERE

To access New York State's Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, CLICK HERE