Nearly 5,000 people are waiting for organ transplants in Georgia right now. This is driving the push to register more people to donate their organs, especially in minority communities where the need is large.
Channel 2 Action News found obstacles like stigma often stand in the way of people registering to donate their organs and ultimately give the gift of life.
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Maria Castaneda got a new kidney 18 years ago after waiting 3 months.
“You enjoy everything every day, every second, every hour,” she said.
Castaneda does not take anything for granted after the transplant in March 2007.
“It was supposed to go to someone else,” she said. “It didn’t match that other person.”
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Her prayer was answered, and Castaneda got a new kidney at the age of 51. Her donor was a 37-year-old male.
“I am very, very happy and I don’t have complications with my kidneys,” she said.
Castaneda’s story is one the nonprofit LifeLink of Georgia works to recreate every day. Michelle Calderon is the assistant manager for the Family Care Coordinator program and says the work they do is incredibly rewarding.
“It really has an extensive ripple effect beyond the one life saved. It is so many lives impacted,” she said.
LifeLink of Georgia says one organ and tissue donor has the potential to benefit more than 75 individuals. Organs that can be donated are heart, lungs, intestine, liver, kidneys and pancreas.
Tissue donations include things like eye, skin and bone. It’s estimated nearly 200,000 procedures utilizing bone grafts are performed each year, but more donors are needed in the minority community. LifeLink of Georgia tracks the need, and it is great in minority communities.
“63% of those who are awaiting a lifesaving organ transplant are African-American. 5% are Hispanic, so the majority of those people on the list waiting, praying for a lifesaving transplant are minorities,” Calderon said.
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LifeLink of Georgia believes the lack of minority donors goes hand in hand with a lack of information, which it is working to break through. Along with stigma is fear that once it is known you’re an organ donor, doctors will not do everything possible to save the life of a donor.
Calderon says this is not the case and wants to clarify that.
“We are two separate teams from the medical team,” she said. “The hospitals, their only mission is to do everything in their power to save a life. They would have no way of knowing that somebody is an organ donor. Only we can pull that information, and we do not actually look at that information until it has been determined that life cannot be saved. That it is not compatible with life anymore.”
In 2024, LifeLink of Georgia rolled out its Infinity campaign to encourage more people to register themselves as an organ donor. It took many years and firsthand experience to push spoken word artist, Adan Bean, to register as an organ donor.
“I went to get my driver’s license, and they said, ‘Hey. Do you want to become an organ donor?’ I was like, I don’t think so. I’m 16! I have my whole life ahead of me,” Bean said. “As I’ve gotten older and as I see this is really impacting me, this is impacting people I love. This is impacting people I care about. I saw that it was an incredible opportunity for me to rethink that and say maybe I can take a step, and it was so incredibly easy.”
Bean is now not only a donor but also part of the Infinity campaign.
The results of the Infinity campaign can be life-changing for people who are on an organ waitlist, like Martina Castaneda was 18 years ago. Today, she is full of appreciation, gratitude and joy for every minute of the past 18 years.
Castaneda says she still prays for the 37-year-old man and his family, who supported his organ donation and lifegiving impact so many years ago. Castaneda says she celebrates two birthdays now – the day she was born and March 7, the day she received her new kidney.
Castaneda said she strives to be a better person every day thanks to the gift of life she was given. If you would like to extend your life and someone else’s through organ donation, click the link here.
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