Children make up more than 10 percent of nation's (deceased) organ donors

[Clark]

http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/children-make-up-more-than-percent-of-nation-s-organ/article_22373f6a-afbf-57b8-a1e9-279819185fec.html

Children make up more than 10 percent of nation's organ donors
By Cindy Uken

Of the 8,268 people in the United States who donated their organs last year, more than 10 percent were children under age 17.

Of those children, 139 were younger than 1 year old, 201 were between ages 1 and 5; 123 were between 6 and 10; and 410 were between 11 and 17, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

To put that in context, last year, 2.5 million people died; 8,268 of them agreed to donate organs.

The concept of child organ donation was pushed into the local spotlight last month when 11-year-old Zoey Not Afraid’s parents, Leroy Not Afraid and Jacquelena Big Hair, decided to donate her organs after removing her from life support at St. Vincent Healthcare.

The couple donated their daughter’s organs to LifeCenter Northwest, one of the 58 federally designated nonprofit organ procurement organizations in the United States.

Her heart was donated to a 7-year-old, her liver to a 1-year-old, one of her kidneys to an adult and another kidney to a 4-year-old, according to a family support coordinator for the Washington-based LifeCenter Northwest. Her eyes were also donated.

“The family’s selflessness and generosity in their time of grief truly saved lives,” said Kevin O’Connor, CEO of LifeCenter Northwest, one of organizations that facilitated the donations. “We see the very best of humanity come out in times like this. The generosity that they showed by taking the biggest tragedy they could have gone through and having the courage and compassion to help other people out is amazing.”

Zoey has left a lasting legacy of hope and healing, O’Connor said. The youngster’s father called the donation a “celebration of the tragedy.”

Currently there are more than 120,000 people in the United States on the transplant waiting list, including 2,000 in the Northwest region, which includes Montana. On average, 18 of those people die each day.

In Montana alone, there are 272 Montana residents waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, according to The United Network for Organ Sharing, based in Richmond, Va.

LifeCenter Northwest serves about 7.7 million people, spread throughout Montana, Alaska, Northern Idaho and Washington, partnering with more than 220 hospitals, including St. Vincent Healthcare. St. Vincent’s partnership with LifeCenter Northwest dates back to the organization’s inception in 1997.

“Patient rights to self determination are very important in health care, especially in a faith-based organization like St. Vincent Healthcare,” said Penny Clifton, chair of the St. Vincent Donate Life Council. “We want to build a plan of care that honors human dignity and patient rights in life as well as in death and dying, which is in line with the patient’s values.”

While all efforts are focused on a return to health when any patient is admitted, sometimes recovery may not be possible, Clifton said. At that point, honoring a patient’s donation wishes or extending the option to give becomes a dignified and honorable extension of the plan of care.

“As a nurse, I see the transition in grief for the family around the bedside when a decision to donate is made,” Clifton said. “There is a subtle softening of the sharpness of the pain of loss and a pinpoint of light in a very dark time.”

Nurses later receive a letter advising them who received the gift of an organ, Clifton said.

“We see the loss, and we see the lives saved,” Clifton said. “We feel proud to be a link in the chain that can turn life lost into life restored.”

Organs that can be donated for transplantation include the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas and intestine. Tissue that can be recovered for donation includes corneas, bone, tendon, skin, veins and heart valves.

One organ, eye and tissue donor can save or enhance the lives of more than 50 people, O’Connor said. Since its inception, Life Center Northwest has saved more than 7,000 lives in the Northwest.