Sharp Healthcare in San Diego will mark April as National Donate Life Month with a flag-raising ceremony Wednesday.
Organ donor recipients and the widower of a donor are scheduled to attend the event at Sharp Memorial Hospital, which has been part of more than 2,100 donations since 1988.
Among those expected Wednesday is Robert Billings, whose 52-year-old wife, Jackie, died Feb. 17 at Sharp Memorial from bacterial meningitis. She helped save three lives by donating two kidneys, a lung and her liver, according to Sharp Healthcare.
Sharp officials said Robert Billings got a kidney donated by his brother a decade ago.
Also scheduled to attend is Troy Stork, a 46-year-old who received a kidney transplant from a deceased donor on New Year’s Day 2000. Stork suffered from polycystic kidney disease since childhood.
According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, nearly 78,000 people in the United States are on waiting lists for organ transplants. Close to 500 are Sharp Memorial patients.
Last year, almost 29,000 organ transplants took place, the HRSA reported.
Sharp Memorial Hospital is one of dozens of transplant centers nationwide that will fly a “Donate Life” flag until the end of April as a reminder about the importance of organ donation.
Residents can join the Donate Life California Registry at www.donatelifecalifornia.org.
According to Sharp Healthcare, one organ donor can save up to eight lives by donating his or her heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys, lungs and intestines.
A tissue donor can improve the lives of up to 50 others by providing eyes or corneas, heart valves, bones and skin grafts.
–City News Service
