On Saturday, April 28, the Organ Donor Awareness Committee, sponsored by the Irish Heritage Club of Sudbury, will hold their 13th annual Walk for a Second Chance.

The purpose of the walk is to bring to the attention of the people in the City of Greater Sudbury the importance of being an organ donor.

Our committee is justly proud of what we have accomplished with our walk since the year 2000, as 45 per cent of Sudbury citizens have signed up to be an organ donor.

Garson, Hanmer and Lively have the highest donor rates in Ontario, with 49 per cent of the people in each community volunteering to donate their organs.

We salute our neighbours in the region, but at the same time we realize we have a lot of work ahead of us to reach 100 per cent.

Every three days, someone dies in Ontario waiting for a transplant. In Sudbury, 50 citizens are on the waiting list.

Now in Ontario, you can register your consent to become an organ and tissue donor online. It only takes a few minutes to register at Beadonor.ca.

Organ donation from one individual can help up to eight recipients, and tissue donation from one individual can help 75 others. Living donation is becoming an increasingly important source of organs for transplant.

Everyone is a potential donor, regardless of their age. The oldest organ donor in Canada was over 90 years old, while the oldest tissue donor was 102 years old.

We invite everyone in our community to join us, and “Walk for a Second Chance” on Saturday April 28 at 10:30 a.m. at the Bell Park Amphitheatre. There are no pledges required.

Tony Sottile
publicity chair, Organ Donor Awareness Committee

Posted by Heidi Ulrichsen