On Thursday, LifeGift, the federally-designated organ and tissue recovery agency, announced that 415 individuals became organ donors and 1,084 individuals became tissue donors in 2016, the most the group has ever seen in its 30 years history.
“During 2016, we also invested heavily in training programs to help our staff learn how to better serve families in crisis and make the decision to donate, all to increase our impact on the waiting list of people counting on us to help save their lives through transplantation,” said Kevin Myer, president and CEO of LifeGift.
From Jan. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2016, LifeGift successfully coordinated the recovery of 415 precious, lifesaving organ donors, resulting in 1130 total organs transplanted.
LifeGift works with individuals needing transplants in 109 Texas counties in Southeast, North and West Texas.
Justin Johnson is the managing director for LifeGift – West Texas, which oversees counties from the Panhandle down to the South and Rolling Plains. Johnson says the agency at the local level has been able to assist hundreds of families in the area.
“We’re just humbled by the fact that the registry has grown so much and just the amount of awareness about donation has grown to just a huge capacity,” said Johnson. “It’s huge, we have a lot of donor families and recipients in the community who have been given a second chance at life.”
According to LifeGift, of the hundreds who became both organ and tissue donors in 2016, 41 percent were registered on the Donate Life Texas Registry, bringing the number of registered individuals in Texas to more than nine million.
Johnson shares that while his job can be exciting and very rewarding, it certainly has its moments.
“Speaking with families and approaching families at the worst time of their life. You know, nobody wakes up to get up out of bed and say ‘I want this terrible thing to happen,’ and we want everyone to feel comfortable with that decision.”
Now for 2017, the agency’s goals are to see numbers of donors and transplants go up and to continue changing the lives of hundreds across the state, country, and wherever else the transplants may go.
“We’re just touching so many lives and that’s a huge thing for me to know I’ve had a place, just a small place,” said Johnson. “I mean the donor families are the heroes, but just to have a small place with that, it’s a humbling experience.’
