By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – April is National Donate Life Month.
In Nebraska, 458 people are on a waiting list for transplants. Vickie Ahlers, Chairwoman of the Donate Life Nebraska board of directors, says a 2006 goal by the national Donate Life organization sought to get 100 million people on the organ donor registry. "I am very pleased to report that at the end of 2010, the number of Americans on state donor registries had grown to 94.7 million. This is awesome, equal to 40 percent of the US population age 18 and over." But Ahlers says 18 patients a day waiting for an organ transplant die.
Nebraskans can register to be an organ donor at the DMV when applying for or renewing a driver's license. Department of Motor Vehicles Director Beverly Neth says 15 counties in Nebraska have half of their licensed drivers registered as organ donors. Among those are Cass, Lancaster, Sarpy, and Washington Counties.
More than 652,000 Nebraskans are registered organ donors.