Posted on Thursday April 17, 2014
Lakeridge Health will celebrate National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week with news that the hospital led the province in tissue donations for 2013. National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week runs April 20 - 26, 2014.
While not as instantly recognizable as organ donation, tissue donation can also lead to a number of lifesaving and life enhancing treatments. Tissues that can be donated include: corneas, skin, heart valves, veins, bones and connective tissue.
“Every tissue donation has a story to tell,” says Irene Bonnar, Trillium Gift of Life Network’s Organ and Tissue Donation Coordinator at Lakeridge Health. “It’s the bone donation used for facial reconstruction after a car accident, the heart valve for a child’s lifesaving heart surgery or the gift of skin for a cancer patient after a mastectomy. All donations will change someone’s life,” she explains.
National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness week is a great opportunity to consider registering as an organ and tissue donor.
“At Lakeridge Health we care for our family, friends and neighbours while they wait for a life-saving organ or tissue donation. When they are unable to wait at home they wait with us, and too many are waiting,” says Kevin Empey, Lakeridge Health President and CEO. “Lakeridge Health leads the province in tissue donations because our staff and community are aware of the urgent need and registered to help. We hope this great news will inspire others in our community to register as a donor too.”
People can visit the Lakeridge Health Be a Donor website to register, check their status or find more information. An old signed donor card does not necessarily mean someone is on the new electronic registry, so people are asked to double check.
“It takes less than 2 minutes to register and save a life,” says Empey.
Fast Facts:
- 24% of Ontarians are registered organ and tissue donors.
- 1,541 Ontarians are waiting for an organ transplant today.
- 9,809 Ontarians have received a lifesaving organ transplant since 2003.
- Registration is voluntary and anonymous and your registration status is only shared with your family at the time of donation to affirm consent.
