MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance is joining Donate Life West Virginia and the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) to encourage everyone to share the love this Valentine’s Day by registering to be an organ donor on Monday, which is National Donor Day.

According to Donate Life West Virginia, National Donor Day is a time to focus on all types of donation — organ, eye, tissue, blood, platelets, and marrow. Of the more than 115,000 U.S. residents awaiting a life-saving organ transplant, more than 500 of them are West Virginians. Each registered donor can save up to eight lives and improve 75 more.

It is also a day to recognize those who have given and received the gift of life through organ, eye, and tissue donation, those who are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant, and those who died waiting because an organ was not donated in time.

“Our state has one of the highest rates of kidney failure in the country. Advanced heart and kidney disease are among the leading causes of death for West Virginians. We believe this needs to change. Nobody should die waiting for an organ transplant,” Michael Shullo, Pharm.D., WVU Medicine associate vice president for transplant services, said. “The more people who register to be donors, the more lives we can save. Organ donors are heroes and these days, we need more heroes. Be a hero; register to be an organ donor.”

WVU Medicine is home to West Virginia’s first and only multi-organ transplant center, making heart and kidney transplant at an academic medical center a reality for people across the state and region.

For more information on transplantation or to refer a potential kidney or heart transplant patient, contact the WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance at 304-974-3004. To register as an organ donor, visit RegisterMe.org/WVUMedicine.