The WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance is joining Donate Life West Virginia in recognition of West Virginia Donor Day on August 1. The annual event is held on August 1 – or 8/1 – because the date symbolizes that one organ donor has the potential to save eight lives and heal up to 75 others.

“Right now, approximately 350 West Virginians and more than 100,000 Americans across the country are waiting for a life-saving organ donation,” Michael Shullo, Pharm.D., WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance vice president, said. “Something so easy as one person registering as an organ donor can make an enormous, life-changing impact on dozens of other people and their families.”

While many people are aware of more common organ and tissue donations, like the heart, lungs, kidneys and corneas, there are others that can be donated, too.

According to Donate Life West Virginia:

• A heart donation can provide the recipient with years of active living.
• A lung donation can allow the recipient to breathe unaided.
• A kidney donation saves the recipient from dialysis and early death.
• A liver donation can restore the recipient’s life.
• An intestine donation can aid the recipient’s digestion.
• A pancreas donation can eliminate the recipient’s insulin dependency.
• A cornea donation can restore the recipient’s sight.
• A tendon donation can be used to rebuild the recipient’s joints.
• A valve donation can repair the recipient’s cardiac defects.
• A vein donation can re-establish the recipient’s circulation.
• A skin donation can heal a recipient’s burns.
• A bone donation can prevent the recipient from needing an amputation.

West Virginia has one of the highest rates of kidney failure in the country. Heart disease and kidney disease are among the leading causes of death for West Virginians.

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

For more information on the WVU Medicine Transplant Alliance, visit WVUMedicine.org/Transplant. To register as an organ donor, RegisterMe.org/WVUMedicine.