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TO RECOGNIZE THE MONTH OF APRIL 2017 AS "DONATE LIFE MONTH" IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND TO ENCOURAGE ALL SOUTH CAROLINIANS TO REGISTER AS ORGAN DONORS.
Whereas, throughout the month of April 2017, organ procurement organizations, transplant centers, national donation organizations, and other organizations across the country are sponsoring special awareness events and donor recognition ceremonies to promote donation awareness and registration; and
Whereas, prior to 2003, this national observance lasted only one week, but in 2003, it was extended to a month and has been observed as National Donate Life Month since then; and
Whereas, every day in April, people across the nation celebrate the life-changing generosity of those who have saved lives by becoming organ, eye, tissue, marrow, and blood donors and encourage more Americans to follow their excellent example; and
Whereas, the symbol adopted to represent 2017 National Donate Life America is the pinwheel symbolizing the donation story because pinwheels capture and pass on energy. The one stem signifies the power one person has to save and heal lives through donation. The four sails represent organ, eye, tissue, and living donation; and
Whereas, not only do recipients of these life-giving donations receive the physical donation, but they also receive a second chance at life. Donors, on the other hand, at the sorrowful time of their own passing, provide consolation and comfort for their families through the renewal of life for others; and
Whereas, in 2016, more than 33,600 transplants were donated from 9,900 deceased and 5,900 living donors, which brought renewed life to patients, their families, and communities; and
Whereas, more than one hundred thousand men, women, and children await lifesaving organ transplants, of whom more than one thousand are ten years old or younger and of whom approximately fifty-eight percent are minorities; and
Whereas, a new person is added to the nation's waiting list for an organ transplant every ten minutes, but the number of donors is not enough to meet the need for the eight thousand people who die every year because the organs they need are not donated in time; and
Whereas, twelve percent of waiting-list patients need a liver transplant. The donation of even a part of the liver can help these patients; and
Whereas, eighty percent of waiting-list patients need a kidney transplant. Since the average waiting time for a kidney from a deceased donor is three to five years, those who receive a kidney from a living donor avoid years of dialysis and do not need to remain on the national transplant waiting list; and
Whereas, a single tissue donor can help more than seventy-five people, and each year, approximately thirty thousand tissue donors provide more than a million tissue transplants; and
Whereas, every year, forty-eight thousand patients have their sight restored through corneal transplants; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly urge all citizens to become organ, eye, and tissue donors as a means of alleviating the suffering of those spending long and difficult years on patient waiting lists for life-saving help. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, recognize the month of April 2017 as "Donate Life Month" in South Carolina and encourage all South Carolinians to register as organ donors.
This web page was last updated on April 6, 2017 at 12:23 PM