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Organ Donation Facts

Did you know each organ donor can save up to eight lives, and each tissue donor can improve the lives of up to 75 people?

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Key Numbers

Discover the extraordinary impact of organ and tissue donation.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions we get from people considering the gift of organ and tissue donation.

75 Lives Saved

Each organ donor can save up to eight lives, and each tissue donor can heal an average of 75 people, with the potential of 125.

The benefits of organ donation are numerous. Each of the eight donatable organs -- lungs (2), liver, pancreas, heart, kidneys (2), and intestines -- can add years to a patient’s life and significantly improve their quality of life. And donated tissue such as tendons, skin and bones can restore mobility and hope for combat veterans, burn victims, and individuals with failing joints. Corneas, the most common transplant, can also be donated and used to restore vision.

While not all of a donor’s organs or tissue may be suitable for transplant, even one life-saving gift can have a profound impact. Many people mistakenly believe their age or medical conditions would rule them out, but everyone is a potential donor!

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9,000+ Patients Helped

More than 9,000 Michigan patients have received a life-saving organ transplant in the past 10 years. Many tens of thousands more have benefited from tissue and corneal transplants.

It’s important that Michigan residents join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry so life-saving transplants can continue. According to the Secretary of State, the Michigan Organ Donor Registry is a confidential database of residents who choose to be organ and tissue donors.  Joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry indicates your decision to be an organ, tissue and eye donor following your death and gives authorization to proceed with donation. Documenting your decision to be a donor saves your family the stress of having to make this choice in their time of loss and could potentially save the lives of many others.

FAQs

Every Donation Counts flyer, outlining the organs and tissues that can be donated.

Heart Aching Statistics

Each day in the United States, on average, over 90 lives are saved by an organ transplant from a deceased donor; but 17 people die daily waiting for a transplant that never comes.

There are currently more than 130 million people in the U.S. who are signed up to be organ, tissue and eye donors. Having a large pool of potential donors helps increase the chance that life-saving transplants can be provided to some of the 104,000+ people on the national organ transplant waiting list and the 1.75 million Americans who receive tissue transplants annually.

Unfortunately, although the generosity of deceased donors saves more than 90 lives each day, the need for organ transplants is outpacing the rate of donor registrations. According to Donate Life America, someone is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes. Because of this, it is critical that everyone who supports organ donation takes the time to register as an organ donor. It can be done in about a minute online.

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