April 1, 2019 – Hartford, WI – On Monday, April 1 at 10:08 a.m., Aurora Medical Center in Hartford, 1302 Sumner Street, will host a flag-raising ceremony in an effort to raise awareness on the importance of organ donation.
Aurora Health Care sites across Wisconsin are part of more than 80 Donate Life Wisconsin members and partner organizations that will “Pause to Give Life” by simultaneously conducting a flag raising ceremony and moment of silence to promote organ, tissue and eye donation as well as honor donors and their families.
Donate Life Wisconsin first introduced the statewide event in 2018 to kick off April’s National Donate Life Month and bring awareness to the importance of organ, tissue and eye donation.
The raising of the Donate Life flag is held at 10:08 a.m. to highlight that one donor can save eight lives followed by a moment of silence for 1 minute and 14 seconds to recognize the nearly 114,000 patients waiting for a life-saving transplant.
Of those patients, nearly 2,000 are in Wisconsin. The event also honors the gift of life that donors and their families have made possible.
“Every day in our hospitals, we see people who are waiting for the gift of life through organ donation,” said Dr. Ajay Sahajpal, medical director, abdominal transplant for Aurora Health Care. “We’re happy to be part of events like ‘Pause to Give Life’ because it allows us to promote awareness of organ donation and to give a voice to the patients we serve.”
Aurora Health Care offers world-class transplantation services and is an advocate for patients and families awaiting lifesaving transplants. Aurora’s St. Luke’s Medical Center ranks No. 1 in Wisconsin and partners with local organ procurement organizations to closely support and promote donations both at a hospital and community-level.
Wisconsin organ, tissue and eye donation facts:
- Anyone age 15 and half or older can register as a donor regardless of age, health, gender, ethnic or racial background.
- Nearly three million, or almost 60 percent of those eligible, have said “Yes” and registered as organ, tissue and eye donors on Wisconsin’s Donor Registry.
- There were nearly 150 living kidney and liver donors, more than 200 deceased organ donors, more than 900 tissue donors and more than 1,500 eye donors in 2018.
- Nearly 800 organs were transplanted, and more than 700 recipients received the gift of hope with an organ transplant in 2018.
For more information on Aurora Health Care’s transplant resources visit aurorahealthcare.org. Those interested in becoming an organ, tissue and eye donor can register online by visiting DonateLifeWisconsin.org or a Wisconsin DMV Service Center.
Donate Life Wisconsin (DLW) is a nonprofit alliance of organizations and caring individuals dedicated to increasing donated organs, eyes and tissues to save and heal lives. Through education and advocacy, DLW inspires people to register as donors and works together to create a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility.
