Nearly half of Kentucky’s population are registered as an organ donor. And those people are saving lives. That’s according to the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates. Last year, 239 Kentuckians donated organs to those in need. The national waiting list for an organ transplant is over 100 thousand, around one thousand of those on the list are in the commonwealth.
Crysta McGee is the spokesperson for the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates. She said the number of Kentuckians is probably even higher.
“Usually that doesn’t the folks that are waiting outside of the state at transplant centers such as Vanderbilt or Cincinnati Children’s. So, it’s important for Kentuckians and it’s important for national numbers as well. The more people we have registered, the more lives we can save.”
McGee said kidneys are in the highest demand among those needing a transplant.
“So that’s just due to things, because hereditary things, polycystic kidney disease, diabetes can contribute to kidney failure, just renal disease in general is huge, especially here in the state of Kentucky. So, the majority of folks waiting on an organ in the state of Kentucky is a Kidney, same nationally.”
McGee said last year, organ and tissue donations from Kentuckians resulted in nearly 600 lives saved across the Commonwealth. This was a recording breaking number from her organization with 239 organ donations and 539 tissue donors.
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