You can save a life today.
When we think of saving a life, we think of someone jumping into freezing water to rescue people trapped in a car that slid off an icy road, or a firefighter running into a burning building to pull out a child.
Most of us will never attempt a daring rescue, yet any of us - if we've registered ahead of time - could save one or more lives through organ donation.
Last week, some of the people who are still here because they received the gift of life visited Royal Columbian Hospital as part of Operation Popcorn - including New Westminster city councillor Chuck Puchmayr. The campaign involves transplant recipients delivering festive tins of popcorn to staff in hospital intensive care units, emergency departments and operating rooms across B.C.
In 2013, 314 organ transplants were performed throughout B.C., up from 284 the year before. Some, such as 120 kidney transplants and three liver transplants, were from living donors. But most, including 95 kidney transplants, 53 liver transplants, 19 heart transplants and 15 lung transplants, were from deceased donors.
As of November, 507 B.C. residents were on a wait-list for a transplant. According to Transplant BC, 85 per cent of B.C. residents support the concept of organ donation, yet only 19 per cent have registered their decision. You can do so online with your CareCard in less than two minutes at transplant.bc.ca, or through the form that comes with your driver's licence renewal.
"My husband, Ted, had his single lung transplant six-and-a-half years ago, and it changed our lives forever," Lynne Fraser of Nanaimo says in a press release about Operation Popcorn. "We celebrated our 40th anniversary, Ted had his 65th birthday, and our sons, Jeff and Matt, have a father. We feel very fortunate to join other transplant families to say thank you to the medical staff who are so important to organ donation and transplant."
