Every 11 minutes a new name appears on the organ transplant waiting list.
For those that get transplants life is promising.
Over 111,000 people need a transplant in the United States.
Approximately 1,000 of those are in South Carolina.
I was one of those names and received a double lung transplant in May of 2011.
An organ donor saved my life.
If you aren't sure if you are in the organ donor registry, visit www.donatelifesc.org.
Five minutes of your time to sign up could save someone's life.
Someone did it for me, and for that I am eternally grateful.
In 2007, I was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease. Before my illness, I climbed mountains and completed marathons. As my illness progressed, it became increasingly difficult to perform even routine daily activities. I was officially listed as critical on the organ donation list as a candidate for a lung transplant for nearly two weeks (and had been on the organ and bone marrow donor list myself for 20 years). In May of this year, I had a double lung transplant at MUSC and was discharged nine days after my surgery. I'm sharing this video with you because I want to share my story to educate others about organ donation and the gift of life.
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