This weekend is Nation Donor Sabbath and we are celebrating this at our church this Sunday in a unique way! We are blessed to be hosting one of the Lifeline of Ohio representatives, Lauren Fitting, one of the traveling Lifeline Quilts, and hearing the testimony of a Marion area resident, Jim Eckard who is a liver recipient.
However, before I spend time promoting a church event, let me explain the heart behind why this matters to us. Take a moment and look at some of the information from the Lifeline of Ohio web-site (www.lifelieofohio.com)
Last year approximately 28,000 Americans received a life-saving organ transplant and more than one million Americans received a life-changing tissue transplant. When just one individual makes the decision to donate, they can change the lives of more than 50 others.
And while more than 95 percent of American adults approve of donation as a viable, life-giving practice, only 52 percent of Ohioans are registered donors
The Gift of Life: Why Organ and Tissue Donation?
Last year approximately 28,000 Americans received a life-saving organ transplant and more than one million Americans received a life-changing tissue transplant. When just one individual makes the decision to donate, they can change the lives of more than 50 others.
And while more than 95 percent of American adults approve of donation as a viable, life-giving practice, only 52 percent of Ohioans are registered donors.
Why give life?
Every day 18 men, women, and children die while waiting for an organ transplant. And every 10 minutes another person is added to the national waiting list for organ donation.
Startling numbers reflect the lives lost and saved by donation:
U.S.
Number of lives saved in 2010 – 28,664
Number of lives lost while waiting in 2010 – 6,590
More than 1 million people benefit from tissue transplants each year
Ohio
3,403 people are waiting; 500 of them are in central Ohio
181 people died waiting in 2010, that’s about one Ohioan every other day
In 2010, 303 Ohioans were organ donors at the time of their death, helping 901 individuals receive a second chance at life through transplantation
1,619 Ohioans gave improved quality of life to others through tissue donation
In 2010, Lifeline of Ohio recovered organs from 84 donors and tissue from 332 donors
National Waiting List
89,808 patients waiting for a kidney transplant
16,199 patients waiting for a liver transplant
1,354 patients waiting for a pancreas transplant
2,150 patients waiting for a kidney-pancreas transplant
262 patients waiting for an intestine transplant
3,201 patients waiting for a heart transplant
71 patients waiting for a heart-lung transplant
1,718 patients waiting for a lung transplant
As of 09/06/11 – 112,111 TOTAL PATIENTS WAITING*
* Some patients are waiting for more than one organ; therefore, the total number of patients is less than the sum of patients waiting for each organ.
Numbers of Transplants Performed During 2010
16,900 kidney transplants
6,291 liver transplants
350 pancreas transplants
828 kidney-pancreas transplants
151 intestine transplants
2,333 heart transplants
41 heart-lung transplants
1,770 lung transplants
28,664 TOTAL TRANSPLANTS PERFORMED*
Number of Donors, 2010
7,943 Deceased
6,566 Living
14,509 TOTAL DONORS*
* Based on data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as of September 16, 2011 — data subject to change due to future submissions or corrections.
Not all of us are moved by statistics but when you stop and realize that each number represents a fellow human being… a father, a wife, a son, a daughter, a friend, a co-worker… then it’s easy to understand just how important this topic is.
I want to invite you to come out and be part of this event. We will be enjoying our normal Sunday gathering with music and study but also thrilled to be hearing the impact of donation by one who has been saved by someone else’s ultimate gift.
Please come join us Sunday at The Shepherd’s Fellowship at 1647 Marion Marysville Road (same as State Route 4 just south of Barks Road in Marion). We start at 10:30am so come out a couple minutes early and get some coffee and settle in. Also, please dress casual or else you’ll make the rest of us look bad =)
For more information about our church, please visit www.theshepherdsfellowship.org
About Tom Hypes
