As part of Donate Life Month in Iowa, residents are being asked to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those who have saved lives through the gift of donation. Deb Thielen (TEE-lun), a registered nurse at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says the number of Iowa donors continues to grow, but so does the waiting list. “In 2017, a total of 54 Iowans shared the gift of life through organ donation, saving 183 lives,” Thielen says. “Thousands more were healed by 1,743 tissue donors in Iowa.”

There are more than 600 Iowans on the organ transplant waiting list and 115-thousand waiting nationwide. In Iowa, recent reports find about 65-percent of adults have already committed to being organ donors. For those who haven’t, she has a message. “Join the majority of Iowans signed up and register as a donor today,” Thielen says. “Make your wishes known by signing up online at IowaDonorNetwork.org, or check the box when you apply or renew your driver’s license at the Iowa DMV.”

Another person is added to the national waiting list every 10 minutes, while 22 people die each day because the organ they need is not donated in time. Learn more at the website: www.donatelife.net.

(Radio Iowa)