Commissioners Proclaim April Donate Life Month

Last updated on Tuesday, April 3, 2018

(BEDFORD) - The Lawrence County Commissioners granted Coroner Rob Herr’s request to proclaim April Donate Life Month.

Herr told the commissioners the proclamation would do three things:

Recognize the benefits to recipients of donations and the bright futures they have after receiving a transplant
Celebrates the generosity of people who choose to become organ donors and encourage registration to donate tissues and organs
To have families communicate with loved ones about being a donor and making their wishes known before a tragic event.
The proclamation is an opportunity to celebrate our county's organ, eye and tissue donors and to inspire more people to say yes to donation

Currently there are more than 161,000 Americans on the waiting list for an organ transplant. There were 33,611
transplants performed in 2016 and 20 people die each day waiting for a transplant. Every 10 minutes another person is added to the waiting list.

"When a person donates locally they can save between 50 to 100 people" Herr says. "This proclamation will help bring attention to the benefit of donating."

Herr works closely with Indiana Organ Procurement Organization (IOPO). IOPO's mission is saving and enhancing the quality of life through organ and tissue donation. IOPO is the federally designated organ procurement organization for Indiana and a certified tissue and eye recovery agency.

As such, they play several roles in the process of organ, tissue, and eye donation working closely with the donor families, transplant surgical teams and hospital staff, and the United Network for Organ Sharing.

Herr says the county morgue serves as a central location for the organization to do organ and tissue harvests for southern part of the state.

1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com

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