223
Number of people
who donated organs in
Alabama in 2013
3,902
Number of
people on
a waiting list
in Alabama
413
Number of
transplants in
Alabama in
2013
YOUR HEALTH
The heart on
your license
indicates that
you are an
organ donor.
With nearly
4,000 people in Ala-
bama waiting for an organ transplant,
donation is critical to giving the gift of
life. Jackson Hospital works closely with
the Alabama Organ Center (AOC), the
federally designated organ procurement
organization for Alabama, to ensure that
compassionate families are given the op-
portunity to donate.
In 2013, Jackson
Hospital’s work
with AOC
resulted in three
organ donors,
one combined
organ and tis-
sue donor, and two tissue-only donors.
Those donations were life-saving to the
recipients, and they were made possible
by the generosity of the donors and their
families.
Last year, 38 families consented to
cornea donation with the Alabama Eye
Bank. Of those, 25 successful donations
were made, helping to restore vision to
the visually impaired.
To become an organ donor,
visit
. You
can also:
• Designate your decision on
your driver’s license.
Are you an organ donor?
• Tell your family, friends and medical
professionals about your decision to be
a donor. Someday, they may have to
speak for you.
• Include your decision in your will and
other advance directives.
Most people are able to be organ
donors. Age and illnesses are not neces-
sarily barriers to giving organs. You
can be a donor while you’re alive, and
you can make arrangements now to
become a donor after you’re deceased.
Both organs and tissue donations can be
transplanted. A deceased donor can give
his or her kidneys, pancreas, liver, lungs,
heart, intestinal organs, skin, heart valves
and corneas. A living donor can give a
kidney; a lung; or a portion of the liver,
lung, intestine or pancreas.
Register today—you could give the gift of life
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