This Friday, on February 14, couples and loved ones across the country will celebrate Valentine’s Day. But what many people don’t know is it’s also National Donor Day. National Donor Day serves to spread awareness and education about organ, tissue, marrow, platelets, and blood donations. Every three days, a New Jersey resident dies while waiting for a transplant due to the fact that there aren’t enough donors to account for the amount of people waiting for a life-saving transplant. Of the 115,000 people in the United States waiting for a life-saving transplant, almost 4,000 are New Jersey residents. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we at Judd Shaw Injury Law™ think it’s important we all sign up to be organ donors.
According to organdonor.gov, 95% of US adults support organ donation. Unfortunately, many of these people haven’t actually taken the time to register as organ donors. Only 58% of US adults are signed up as donors. It’s great that more than half of US adults are registered organ donors; however, in Montana (93% of population is registered), Alaska (92%), and Washington (89%), almost every adult is a registered organ donor. In New Jersey, there are almost 7 million legal adults but fewer than 3 million NJ residents are registered organ donors. That means less than half of the legal adults in New Jersey are registered organ donors.
Spread the love this Valentine’s Day by registering to be an organ donor. One organ donor can potentially save eight lives. With the ability to do this much good, there’s no reason the majority of NJ residents aren’t registered organ donors. If you’re unsure whether or not you’re an organ donor, simply check your driver’s license, where it should say “Organ Donor” in the bottom right corner. If it doesn’t say “Organ Donor” on your license, then please visit your local DMV or the NJ Sharing Network website in order to register as an organ donor. In just a few minutes, you can become eligible to save one or even a few of the nearly 4,000 New Jersey residents awaiting a life-saving transplant. As an organ donor, there’s no telling how many people you can give a second chance at life.
