PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Thousands of people across the Northwest are waiting for organ transplants at any given time. While 75% of Oregonians are registered organ donors, the national average isn’t quite as high.
A new effort by Apple and Donate Life America aims to make the sign-up process for potential organ donors as easy as the click of a button.
It’s something Portlander Mark Williams thinks will end up saving lives.
For more than a year, Williams was on a liver transplant waiting list with hundreds of other people. One day he got a call to his hospital room that changed his life forever.
“I was close to running out of time,” Williams told KOIN 6 News. “I started to cry… I was amazed. Nothing short of a miracle.”
Finally, he got the news he was waiting for: A perfect liver was available.
His donor, Melissa, died of an asthma attack. At 16, she checked the organ donor box on her driver’s license application, a move that had monumental effects years later.
Williams got the chance to thank Melissa’s family on Memorial day. Her gift of life will keep them connected forever.
“We are family,” Williams said. “We see each other at birthdays, we spend a lot of time together… I’m carrying a part of her inside of me and I need to respect that.”
He hopes others can be just as fortunate as him.
Only 50% of Americans are registered organ donors. Not everyone is eligible to donate, either. Donations are limited to people who die in a hospital on life support.
But if someone dies in an accident or at home, there is still demand for what they can provide: corneas, tissue, heart valves and bone.
Apple’s partnership with Donate Life America will let people sign themselves up to become organ donors on their smartphones. The option will be available through Apple’s Health app once the new iOS 10 software rolls out this fall.
Filed under: Health, Human Interest, Local News, National, Oregon, Technology, Top Video
