Bringing Awareness With Donate Life

Have you ever been to Motor Vehicles to renew your License or get a new state ID and been asked if you wish to be an organ donor?  I got my Drivers License when I was 17 and have been driving ever since so I have been to the DMV quite a few times in my life. I'm not going to lie: when I was younger I really struggled with the organ donor question because I had heard so many myths. Once I got older I did my research and realized that none of them were even remotely true. If God forbid the worst case scenario happens to me I would love to know that my organ and tissue donation helped save a life.

I partnered up with Donate Life to bring some much-needed awareness about organ, eye, and tissue donation. Donate Life is a non-profit organization who is in charge of the recovery of organs and tissue that are then used for transplants. As of December 2017, there are approximately 115,000 people on the transplant list just waiting for an organ. It really saddens me to know that an average of 21 people die each day waiting for a transplant and that every 10 minutes another person is added to the list. I think it is important to have these conversations with your family because in the event that you are faced with a tragic event in your family you can save another person's with an organ donation. 

There are so many myths out there related to donating. Some people think there is a cost to donate, but there is no cost at all. Some people, also, think they might be too old or sick to donate. Almost all organ donations happen after a death and a medical professional can tell if those organs are viable. That's why it doesn't hurt to register anyway. The biggest myth, and honestly one I believed for many years, was that if you have the donating heart on your driver's license the doctors will not try to save you in the case of an emergency. Medical professionals don't have access to this info and can't proceed with any organ donation without calling Donate Life. 

The decision to donate is a very personal one and it's important to discuss with your family. It's something I have discussed with my husband and we both have a heart on our license and feel the same about organ donations. If you would like to register as an organ, eye, or tissue donor visit donate.org and if you want more information you can visit beadonor.org.

Thank you for allowing me to spread awareness on this topic! Comment below if you are a donor or have been a recipient!

XO