WVU Medicine calls for new donors in celebration of West Virginia Donor Day: 8/1
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MORGANTOWN - WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance is partnering with Donate Life West Virginia and the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) to recognize West Virginia Donor Day on Saturday, Aug. 1.
The date - 8/1 - was chosen to recognize that one organ donor can save up to eight lives through the gift of hearts, lungs, livers, and intestines for critically ill patients. And one tissue donor can heal up to 75 people using corneas, tendons, and bones. Kidney and pancreas transplants free patients from daily treatments like dialysis.
Annie Rieg, CORE’s executive administrative assistant for community outreach and donor family services, and Kim Meyer, director of operations for the Transplant Alliance, talked to the press Friday afternoon about the importance of the day and of organ donation.
Among the activities to encourage people to register to become donors, Rieg said, will be $10 gift cards offered at West Virginia Go Marts.
"It’s a reminder to honor our loved ones who are donors and to inspire people to become donors and have a second chance at life for those who are waiting," Rieg said.
Nationally, she said, about 60% of citizens are registered organ donors. But West Virginia is well behind the curve at only 36%. "It’s really a lack of understanding and education." CORE aims to bridge the education gap.
Annie Rieg. The Dominion Post photo
West Virginians can register to donate in several ways, she said. At the DMV when getting or renewing a driver’s license, when obtaining a hunting or fishing license, when registering to vote, and online at registerme.org or donatelifewv.org/register.
West Virginia has the honor of being the second state in the nation to offer donor registration with voter registration, she said.
For those who hesitate to become donors because of health concerns, she said, there are actually very few diseases that prevent a person from donating. "Cancer, HIV, hepatitis, none of those will stop you from becoming an organ donor." And neither does age: you can’t be too old or too young.
Nationally, there are 100,000 on waiting lists for organ donations, she said, and about 300 in West Virginia.
And CORE supports families on both sides. It offers a 13-month bereavement program for donor families, and a writing program connecting recipients to donor families.
Kim Meyer. The Dominion Post photo
Meyer said WVU Medicine started its heart and kidney transplant program in 2019. The Alliance team cares for people while they’re on the waiting list - the wait for a kidney as long as five years - and for the life of the transplant afterward.
And they encourage patients to be advocates and educate the community on the importance of donation.
Before the Transplant Alliance began its work, she said, patients had to leave the state and drive as long as four to six hours to get the help they needed. "It’s been a huge blessing to us to be able to provide this service to the citizens of West Virginia." It’s the only center in the state to offer heart and kidney transplants.
"It gives the gift of life to another human," Meyer said. "It allows the person to be able to have another birthday, to have another year with their family, or two years or three years or five years, to see their children grow up, children graduate, to attend weddings. And the recipients are so thankful."
For more information on the Transplant Alliance, including details on becoming a living donor, visit WVUMedicine.org/Transplant or call 304-974-3004.