Today in Ontario there are over 1,500 people waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. This is their only treatment option. Every three days someone will die waiting for a transplant. More than 85% of Ontarians are in favor of organ donation, but only one in three have registered their consent to donate.
You can help by registering your consent for organ and tissue donation.
- One donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and enhance the lives of up to seventy-five more through the gift of tissue donation.
- Age alone does not disqualify someone from becoming a donor. The oldest organ donor was over ninety and the oldest tissue donor was over one hundred. There’s always potential to be a donor; don’t let your age stop you from registering.
- Your current or past medical history does not prevent you from registering to be a donor. Individuals with serious illnesses can sometimes be organ and/or tissue donors. Each potential donor is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Registering to be an organ donor only takes a few minutes and can be done online at BeADonor.ca. Make sure to talk to your family about your wishes.
1. You will need your Ontario Health Card number and your date of birth (you must be sixteen years of age or older).
2. You can register online at ServiceOntario or in person at any ServiceOntario centre.
Trillium Gift of Life Network is the Ontario government agency responsible for organ and tissue donation and transplant. Call 1-800-263-2833 or visit www.beadonor.ca or www.giftoflife.on.ca/en/ today for more information. Register today. You could save a life.
Blood Donation: Be A Life-Line
Half of all Canadians will either need blood or know someone who needs it. The need is always there. Donating blood is something you can do today to ensure that someone else is waking up healthy tomorrow.
The standard blood donation is approximately 450mL, a little less than two cups. This amount represents a very small portion of the blood in a person’s body; the average adult has about five litres. The entire process to donate blood takes just over one hour.
Canadian Blood Services collect blood, plasma and platelets from over 13,000 donation events every year. They have 35 permanent donor centres and over 4000 mobile donor centres across Canada.
Visit the website, https://myaccount.blood.ca/en, to learn more. If you have questions or are unsure about your eligibility to donate, please call to speak with a trained health professional at 1.888.2.DONATE (1.888.236.6283).
