Be An Organ Donor

Sign up to be an organ donor

www.YesIWillWisconsin.com

Wisconsin is the first state to pass legislation that allows living organ donors up to a $10,000 tax deduction for non-medical expenses incurred.

Living donation

While it is important to talk about end-of-life decisions including organ donation, it is becoming more common to donate organs while living. While donating a kidney is the most common donation, examples of other organs that can be donated include a lobe of a lung, partial liver, pancreas or intestine.

Although the decision to become a living donor involves careful consideration, being a living donor offers others an alternative to waiting on the national transplant waiting list for an organ from a deceased donor.

To become a donor

Yes, I Will Donate!

It only takes a few minutes to complete the online registration process on the new Wisconsin Donor Registry, but by doing so you could save up to eight lives through organ donation, give sight to two people and greatly improve dozens of lives through tissue donation.

In Wisconsin, you can go to the new online registry at

www.YesIWillWisconsin.com

to legally authorize donation.

Anyone older than age 15½ with a Wisconsin driver’s license or identification card can register. You may also sign up when you apply for or renew your driver’s license or ID.

Documenting your donation decision on the Donor Registry ensures your decision is legally binding, and does not require the consent of any other person. The Registry allows donation professionals to quickly confirm a person’s donation decision, share that decision with a person’s family, and work with them to honor that choice – saving precious minutes for those waiting for a life-saving transplant.

There are 105,000 people on waiting lists for organ donations in the U.S. and 1,500 still wait in Wisconsin. Hundreds more wait for their sight to be restored through eye donation and thousands wait for the chance to live without pain through a bone or soft tissue transplant. Eighteen people will die today because they didn’t get a transplant in time.

You can make a difference. Make the decision to be a donor today, and go to:

www.YesIWillWisconsin.com

Mike Jagler wanted to be an organ donor and expressed that desire to his wife Jill during their marriage. When Mike passed away unexpectedly, Jill didn't hesitate to follow through on her husband's request. Mike lives on - in Jill's heart and in his recipients. Read Mike & Jill's story in the Transplant Stories Section of our website.

The demand is far greater than the available supply.
- More than 105,000 Americans are on a waiting list for transplants.
- Another person is added to the waiting list every 12 minutes.
- In the US, 18 people die daily while waiting for an organ transplant.
The shortage of organs and tissues persists despite the fact that the public supports organ and tissue donation.
- 85% of the population supports organ donation, including strong support from health care professionals and virtually all organized religions.
- Less than 30% of the public have actually signed a donor card or discussed the issue with their families.
- Of all the deaths in the US, only 1-2% could result in organ donation – only about 50% of those individuals actually donate. If everyone who could donate did so, the waiting list for transplants would be greatly reduced.
The high success rates of transplantation make the shortage of organs and tissues all the more tragic.
- Transplant survival rates keep increasing. The survival rates for transplants are about 95% for kidney recipients, 85% for liver and heart recipients and 75% for lung recipients.
Donation is a decision for you to research, think about and discuss.
- Get the information you need to make an informed decision.
- Sign your donor card.
- Let the important people in your life, especially your family, know your wishes.
People don't die because of organ donation. Organ donation happens because people die.
- Organ donation does not happen until after brain death occurs. The law clearly states that the doctor who pronounces brain death must have nothing to do with the removal or transplantation of organs

For the most current donation statistics, including how many people are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant nationally and in Wisconsin, visit the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). (Click "Data" then "Data Collection" to view statistics.)

North Central Wisconsin Donate Life

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world..... - Anonymous