Every 13 minutes, a new name is added to the waiting list for organ transplants. Every day, an average of 17 people die waiting for a lifesaving transplant. The Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency is a federally designated organ organization for the state of Mississippi and is part of the United Network of Organ Sharing.
Although it may seem like not enough Mississippians donate, James Laird, the Community Volunteer Services Coordinator for MORA, states that they are donating but that he could not have said that five years ago.
As of Sept. 27, 80,300 Americans were waiting for organ transplants and more than 53,040 of these patients are waiting for kidney transplants. In Mississippi, 763 residents are listed to have an organ transplant. The majority, 577, are waiting for a kidney transplant, according to MORA.
In 2001, there were 24,110 organ transplants of which approximately 16,081 were non-living and 6,520 were living donors.
The number of organ donors in Mississippi was 47 in 1998, 45 in 1999 and 52 in 2000.
MORA tries to keep Mississippi donors within the state. MORA tries to match up the donation with a recipient at the Mississippi Recovery Center.
The donor law, known as the “Gift of Life Act,” was updated by the legislature and signed by Governor Fordice on April 13, 1998.
According to Laird, one donor can save and enhance the lives of up to 50 people through organ and tissue donation.
Age is not a factor in donating. Vital organs can be recovered from anyone up to 90 years old. The oldest donor in the state was 84 years old and donated in 1998.
According to MORA, commonly donated and needed organs include the heart, kidney, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestines. Tissue donations include the eyes, skin, bone, heart valve and tendons.
The decision to recover organs and tissue is made only after all medical life-saving efforts have been made and the donor is pronounced legally dead.
People who donate tissue, such as skin, can aid burn victims and large bones can be donated and crushed down to make different bone products to reattach hips, an alternative to using metal pins.
“Each case is different,” Laird said. “Specific organs can be donated. The family can designate any organ they want to recover. It is easier if the family know the wishes of their loved one. It is great to sign a donor card or a license.”
Signing a donor card, however, does not guarantee a donor because the family of the deceased has the ultimate decision. On all new licenses, there will be a red heart on the front of the driver’s license to indicate that someone is an organ donor. By doing this, the family becomes more aware of their loved one’s wishes.
After a family gives consent for their loved one to donate, MORA pays all medical bills for further testing. The deceased is tested in order to protect the recipient at the transplant center.
MORA schedules an operating room with the hospital, and the surgeon uses the same delicate and respectful technique as one would in open-heart surgery.
Laird said, “We try to meet the family’s funeral arrangements. We work with the family, the hospital and the funeral home.”
Laird said he believes that some people are unaware of the importance of donating or talking to their family about their wishes because death is a neglected topic to many families. Families do not want to think about death. Unfortunately, children are born with lung deficiencies and need transplants. This is often brought to a family once they experience it.
“Unless they are effected by it, people don’t think about it,” Laird said. “An everyday virus could settle in your organ and you could need a transplant.”
Laird said that once a family’s loved one has passed, it is difficult for the family to think about donation. But organ and tissue donations may allow another family’s loved one to live.
Laird added that a family said their passed loved one had a good heart, and they wanted someone to have his.
MORA encourages recipients to write to the donor family so that the family can see how their loved one has aided another’s life.
For additional information, contact Laird, Community Volunteer Services Coordination at (662) 933-1000 or 1-800-690-8878 between the hours of 8:30 and 4:30, Monday through Friday or visit their Web site at http://www.msora.org.