April is National Organ Donor Awareness Month. Ginger Schwarz, coordinator of the Manitowoc County Organ & Stem Cell Group, tells SeehaferNews.com that it’s designed to let the public know you can be a donor. “You don’t have to be in perfect health,” Schwartz explained. “You don’t have to be 16 years old. You can be 70 years old and be a donor. There are probably 50 people a day in the United States waiting for transplants, and if they don’t get it that day, they will die.”
Schwarz explained that she was nearly one of those 50 less than 10-years ago. She was very lucky and according to her, “A miracle happened, and someone donated a matching set of lungs.” She went on to talk about how she has been doing “…as far as my transplant goes, very well. 8 ½ years I would not have had if I hadn’t had it. Seven grandchildren, I never would have seen.”
Schwarz says it’s a fabulous gift when people decide to donate. All it takes is for one person to decide to allow their body to be used to help others after their death, and according to Schwartz, 8 lives can be saved with their organs and up to 50 with their tissue.
She also explains any transplant recipient, whether it’s recently or years ago, their caregiver or family and those on a transplant list are welcome to attend their monthly meetings. She told us “I found that attending a support group prior to transplant was extremely helpful.” She told us that she would attend meetings while she was on the waitlist, and would see others that went through the same thing she was waiting to go through and could see that they were doing well. That reassurance was very helpful in getting her through the process.
To sign-up to become an organ donor, go to the website Yes I Will Wisconsin, or sign up when you have your driver’s license renewed. The Manitowoc Support Group meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6 pm in the Cooperstown Room at the Holy Family Memorial Harbortown Campus.
