Ultimate donation
California, the most populous state, has one of the nation’s lowest organ donor registration percentages.
According to a 2019 sample of the U.S. population, 90% of adults support organ donation but only 60% are actually signed up as donors. The DMV began asking driver’s license and ID card holders if they wanted to join the state’s official Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry on July 1, 2006. By the end of that year, 1 million people had signed on to the secure and confidential database. As of Oct. 30, 19.7 million Californians had signed up since 2006, but a 2023 survey showed California had the second-lowest adult organ registration rate (31.2%) behind Georgia (32.8%). Some states, such as Indiana and Colorado, have rates greater than 65%. Not all states reported to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network’s 2023 survey.
Donate Life California program manager Lacey Felder said, “California is not only the largest state in the country, it’s also one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse. Although we see diversity as a strength, it also means we must do intensive, community-specific education to ensure people have accurate information about organ, eye and tissue donation. Different communities have different levels of trust in medical systems, cultural considerations or long-standing misconceptions, so our outreach needs to be tailored and ongoing.”
Miracles happen
Gretchen Malcolm, 66, of San Juan Capistrano recently celebrated her one-year anniversary of a double lung transplant. She was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2014. On Sept. 6, 2024, she entered MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills with pneumonia, rhinovirus and pulmonary fibrosis. By Sept. 17, Malcolm was transferred to UC San Diego hospital, put on the lung transplant list and considered high risk. Her husband, Wyatt, was told to notify their children the doctors had given her a week to live after being intubated. On Sept. 25, 2024 (World Lung Day), an offer of lungs was made and the blood type matched. The next day a 9 1/2 hour surgery began at UC San Diego hospital in La Jolla.
Malcolm said, “I attribute my success to the incredible team of lung and transplant doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, swallow and throat specialists, pharmacists, X-ray technicians, phlebotomists and nutritionists.” She was released from the hospital Oct. 28, 2024.
Anyone can become a potential organ donor regardless of age, ethnicity or medical history.
One U.S. man gave the gift of life — and a liver — when he was 95.
After six months a transplant recipient can write a nondescript (no geographic location of personal information) letter of thanks explaining how their donation has impacted their life. The letter is sent to the donor family by the hospital’s social worker. The family may or may not choose to reply.
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Sources: Donate Life America, organdonor.gov, 2019 National Survey of Organ Donation Attitudes and Practices, donatelifecalifornia.org, United Network for Organ Sharing, Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network