Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Organ Donation Awareness gets a big boost at the football game on Labor Day

The Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League hosted this annual classic matchup with the Toronto Argonauts. Tiger Cat management graciously provided Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) this venue to promote organ donation awareness.

Volunteers from TGLN, who were transplant recipients, donors or donor families, were issued special T-shirts and paraded onto the field to be recognized before the game started. See Photos. Other volunteers and their guests were also invited however only transplant recipients, donors and donor families took part in the on-field activities. Although the final score of the game was Toronto 40, Hamilton 6, the Tiger Cats deserve a big round of applause for their support of organ donation awareness.

Dr. Frank Markel, President and CEO, Trillium Gift of Life Network, was interviewed on the field before the start of the game and he very eloquently stressed the need for organ donation while the Jumbotron screen featured our group on the field and the sign your donor card message.

This event is another in the continuing recent initiatives by TGLN to boost organ and tissue donation awareness in Ontario. What really impressed me was how the TGLN staff showed their dedication by taking time from their Labor Day holiday to attend the event. In addition to Dr. Markel I spoke with TGLN management people Jennifer Tracey, Cailey Crawford and Brian Kellow.

The need for organ donation in Ontario is very clear from these statistics taken from Trillium Gift of Life's website. To date, 597 transplants have been performed in the Province and 1751 patients are still waiting for their "Gift of Life".

Year to date transplants performed by organ with the waiting list in brackets.

  • Liver - From Deceased Donors 101 (443)

  • Liver - From Living Donors 36 (incl. above)

  • Heart 51 (33)

  • Kidney- From Deceased Donors 181 (1138)

  • Kidney- From Living Donors 149 (incl. above)

  • Lung 56 (48)

  • Heart - Lung 1 (5)

  • Pancreas 2 (27)

  • Small Bowel 2 (5)

  • Kidney - Pancreas 18 (52)


  • TOTAL TRANSPLANTS PERFORMED 597 (1751)

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