You could save seven lives.
All you have to do is sign a card.

More than 92,000 men, women and children in the United States are in need of an organ transplant. Although approximately 74 people receive organs each day, an average of 19 people die each day because there is a shortage of donated organs.

Tim Johnson ‘90 is trying to shrink that deficit by persuading others to become organ and tissue donors. Johnson is a transplant coordinator for Roanoke’s LifeNet, where he manages the donation/transplantation process for the full-service organ donation agency and tissue banking system. Outside his day job, Johnson promotes organ donation through public presentations and hospital in-service training.

People who sign up to be organ and tissue donors can save the lives of seven people by donating a heart, liver, two kidneys, two lungs and a pancreas. An eye donor can benefit 10 people, and tissue donations from one person can enhance the quality of 50 lives, Johnson said.

The largest need is for kidneys, with a waiting list of about 64,000 people. Some people need more than one organ transplant to survive. The wait can be long, up to four and a half years for some, depending on variables such as age and ethnicity.

What can be done to encourage a larger number of people to become registered organ donors?

“Often, people simply need to be educated,” Johnson said. “Many times I just have to mention a few of the many benefits of organ donation and people will change their minds and become a donor.”

It is easy to do. The simplest way is to indicate your wishes when you renew your driver’s license. Virginians can also sign up online at www.save7lives.org. The Web site has “astronomically increased the number of organ donors in Virginia,” Johnson said.

In some states (not in Virginia) your family may be asked to sign a consent form before your organs can be donated, so it is important to discuss your decision with them.

Part of Johnson’s job is to talk with families after the death of a loved one. He believes family members of an organ donor are true beneficiaries of the process.

“I walk into a room of sadness after a person has passed away, but after I talk with the family about their loved one’s wishes to be a donor, I often leave that room with the family hugging me and sharing great stories with me about their loved one,” Johnson said. “I’ve had people tell me later that their loved one being an organ donor is the best thing that’s happened to them.”

Anyone can be considered as an organ donor regardless of age and previous health conditions. At the time of a donor’s death, medical professionals like Johnson review the donor’s medical and behavioral history to determine whether that person’s organs are eligible for donation.

Despite the relative ease of organ donation, many people are reluctant to take the necessary steps. Johnson works hard every day to dispel myths like these:

• Myth Organ donation prevents an open-casket funeral.
  Fact Organ retrieval is conducted by professional surgeons and the process does not disfigure the body, said Johnson.
• Myth Medical professionals will not be aggressive in trying to save a donor’s life.
  Fact “Doctors always do their best to save a person’s life regardless if they are a donor or not,” Johnson said. “In fact, no effort to determine a patient’s donor status is ever done during the acute resuscitation phase of emergent care.”
• Myth People who choose to donate their bodies to science are automatic organ donors.
  Fact A body donated for scientific research cannot be used for organ and tissue donation.

Even with a clear understanding of the facts, some people are reluctant to become donors. Some are held back by religious beliefs. For others, fear plays a role.

“Some people may be so fearful of death that talking and thinking about organ donation makes them scared and uncomfortable,” said RU psychology professor Neils Christensen.

Many others set aside the discomfort.

“People look at things such as organ donation and weigh the costs and the benefits,” Christensen said. “For many people the benefit, whether it’s a feeling of personal satisfaction about doing good or a feeling of empathy for the person needing the transplant, far outweighs the cost.”

Johnson said, “Once people realize that they could save seven or eight lives and enhance the quality of many more lives just by giving their organs, they see organ donation as a wonderful choice, and it’s a decision they are happy with having made. It is nice to know that you could impact that many people just by signing a card.”