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every year many thousands of people
receive the gift of life a life-saving
transplant of a heart kidney liver lungs
pancreas or intestines and thousands
more people receive corneas and other
tissues that restore sight and health
transplantation is one of the great
medical advances of our time how does it
work it all starts when someone's organ
begins to fail and that person will need
a transplant to survive a thorough
evaluation is conducted at a transplant
center and if the person's a good
candidate for a transplant he or she
will be put on the National transplant
waiting list once a person is on the
list the wait for an organ begins a
national system matches people on the
waiting list with donors the factors
considered in matching donors and
recipients include blood type and body
size how sick the patient is distance
from the donor tissue type and length of
time on the waiting list what doesn't
get taken into account organs are never
matched based on race or gender income
celebrity and social status are also
never considered in matching donor
organs to waiting patients there's no
telling how long the wait will take in
fact some people don't receive an organ
in time because the waiting list is very
long and there aren't enough donors
available that's why an average of 20
people on the waiting list die each day
imagine how many we could save if we all
were donors most organs for transplants
come from deceased donors here's how
that happens a person comes to the
hospital with a life-threatening brain
injury such as from an accident a stroke
or lack of oxygen the doctors work hard
to save the patient's life but sometimes
nothing can be done
there's a complete irreversible loss of
brain function the patient is clinically
and legally dead that's when being a
donor can turn a time of loss into a
time of hope because machines have kept
blood containing oxygen flowing to the
organs they can be passed along one
person can give life to as many as eight
people through organ donation and
enhance the lives of 50 people or more
through AI and tissue donation but now
minutes matter matches must be found and
transplants must happen quickly the
hospital contacts an organ procurement
organization and Opio
Opie OHS managed the organ recovery
process the Opio checks the state organ
donor registry if the person is already
registered as a donor they'll inform the
family if not they'll ask the family to
authorize donation a medical examination
takes place they check the medical and
social history and if the person is
eligible to be an organ donor the
computer begins the search on the
National waiting list for well matched
patients the best matched patients for
each organ are contacted by their
transplant teams this is the call that
every single person on the waiting list
has been hoping for
the call that could mean a second chance
at life now the transplant happens a
surgical team recovers the organs then
corneas and other tissues the organs are
sent to the transplant hospitals where
the patients and transplant teams are
waiting and the life-saving transplants
take place it will take healthy living
and medications to keep the organ
working well in its new home but some
wonderful person has given the most
precious gift of all the gift of life
you too can make the decision today to
sign up on your state registry as an
organ eye and tissue donor any age is
the right age young or old and any day
is the right day to sign up as a donor
you can register through your driver's
license office or you can sign up right
now online remember to tell your family
so they can support your wishes more
than 145 million people have already
signed up but we're all needed to save
more lives go to organ donor gov and
sign up in your state donor registry as
an organ eye and tissue donor go to
organ donor gov and share the gift of
life
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