April is National Donate Life Month, and Forrest Health is doing its part to bring attention to the importance of organ donations. Forrest General will once again host a Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA) flag dedication at the hospital’s main entrance on April 12, which is also National Blue and Green Day. April 12 will be a day to observe the month by wearing blue and green, the colors promoting the importance of the Donate Life message to register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor.
Throughout the month, Forrest Health is helping educate people on the need for individuals of legal age to sign up on the Mississippi Donor Registry at www.donatelifems.org.
The number of Mississippians who have registered to be organ and tissue donors has reached a milestone – 1.2 million donor registrations! As of 2022, 170 million people in the U.S. had registered as donors. Not everyone who registers as a donor is able to donate. In fact, only 3 in 1,000 people die in a way that allows for deceased organ donation.
Take a look at these statistics:
More than 100,000 people are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants. Even the largest football stadium in the U.S. could not fit the number of patients on the national transplant waiting list. Every eight minutes another person is added to the national transplant waiting list. 5,600 people in the U.S. died in 2022 while waiting on the list. 16 people die each day while waiting for an organ transplant. 86 percent of patients waiting are in need of a kidney. 1 out of 3 deceased donors is over the age of 50.
If you donate:
Your organs would be able to save up to 8 lives. Your cornea would be able to restore sight to 2 people. Your tissue would be able to heal the lives of 75 people.
In 2023, more than 23,000 donors brought new life to recipients and their families. In 2022, the U.S. reached a historic milestone, achieving its 1 millionth organ transplant, more than any other country in the world.
The list of organs and tissues that can be successfully transplanted continues to grow.
Organs for transplants include:
Heart Lung Kidney Liver Intestines Pancreas
Tissues for Transplant:
Eyes/cornea Heart valves Bone and associate tissue Skin Veins and arteries Nerve Birth tissue In 2023, Forrest General Hospital celebrated more than
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