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LifeSharer share organs

Editor, Index-Tribune:

     

  If more people were as generous as Danielle MacKinzie, we wouldn’t have more than 50 percent of Americans waiting for organ transplants and dying each year. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year. There are now more than 112,000 people on the National Transplant Waiting List. There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage – give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

  Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren’t willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.

  Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a nonprofit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at lifesharers.org or by calling 888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has more than 14,800 members, including 1,777 members in California.

  Please contact me if your readers would like to learn more about our innovative approach to increasing the number of organ donors. I can arrange interviews with some of our local members if you’re interested. My email address is daveundis@lifesharers.org, and my phone number is 615-351-8622.

   Dave Undis, Executive Director,

  LifeSharers, Nashville, Tenn.