BeADonor Month in Niagara

Photo Credit: Trillium Gift of Life Network

April 2, 2019

By: Marcie Culbert

Niagara Health is teaming up with The Trillium Gift of Life Network for BeADonor month.

Hospital Donation Physician Dr. Hari Vasan says they want to shine a light on the importance of organ and tissue donation.

"There's 1,600 Ontarians waiting for a life saving organ transplant in this province and every three days someone on that list will die unfortunately waiting for a transplant."

One organ donor can save up to eight lives and a tissue donor can enhance the lives of 75 people. The kidneys, liver, heart, pancreas and small bowel can all be donated.

Dr. Vasan says we need more donors here in Niagara.

"We know that Niagara Falls has about a 32 percent organ donor registration rate, which is the number of registered donors over the number of health card holders. The provincial average is around 33 percent."

Over 85 percent of people in the province agree with organ donation, but only one in three Ontarians have actually registered to become a donor.

You can apply to become an organ donor online here or in person at your local Service Ontario office.