One person dies every 96 minutes while waiting for an organ.
Every year, an estimated 6,000 people die while waiting for organ transplants.
You are much more likely to need a transplant than become an organ donor.
Over 1 million people wide have benefited from a transplant in the last 25 years.
The waiting list is increasing at the rate of 1000 people a month.
Almost 60% of people waiting for organ transplants are between the ages of 18 and 49.
It is possible to transplant approximately 26 different organs and tissues including bone and cartilage, bone marrow, cornea, hearts, lung, kidney, liver, and pancreas.
Kidney is the most needed organ, comprising nearly two-thirds of the waiting list, followed by the liver, heart and lung.
The largest number of children who need organ transplants are waiting for kidney donations. Approximately 9% of patients on the national kidney waiting list are children less than 18 years of age. Almost 1% are age five and under.
In 1996, there were only 5,000 organ donors in the United States. Yet, these donors gave a second chance to almost 20,000 transplant recipients.
Tissue donation provides skin grafts for thousands of burn patients; restores sight through cornea transplants and benefits patients in need of bone, cartilage and tendons.
There is no maximum age for some donations.
Acceptable organ donors can range in age from newborn to senior citizens.
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