Each year, the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois develops special public education programs aimed at increasing public awareness of the need for organ and tissue donation. Learning more about organ and tissue donation will help every American to make an informed decision about this important issue. Every day, about 9 to 10 people die while waiting for a transplant of a vital organ, such as a heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, lung or bone marrow. About 10 percent of the patients currently waiting for liver transplants are young people under 18 years of age. Acceptable organ donors can range in age from newborn to 65 years or more.
Brain death is a legal definition of death.
An estimated 10,000 to 14,000 people who die each year meet the criteria for organ donation, but less than half of that number become actual organ donors. By signing Uniform Donor Card or the back of an Illinois Driver s License or State I.D. card, an individual indicates his or her wish to be an organ donor. It is important for people who wish to be organ and tissue donors to tell their families about this decision so that their wish will be honored at the time of death. All costs related to the donation of organs and tissues are paid for by the donor program. Donor organs and tissues are removed surgically, and the donor s body is closed, as in any surgery.