Donors And Recipients Rally In West Michigan To Promote Organ And Tissue Transplantation
USA: April’s National Donate Life Month brought donors, transplant recipients and advocates to Corewell Health’s children’s Hospital as a Donate Life flag was raised outside Helen DeVos children’s Hospital, urging West Michigan residents to consider organ and tissue donation. The event centered on transplantation as a public-health imperative and on personal stories that illustrate how donations rebuild lives.
Deborah Wyant shared that her daughter Shayna, who passed in 2016, donated six organs and her hands — gifts that the family says have given meaning through grief. Recipients described restored abilities and renewed family connections: one grandmother regained the simple touch of holding grandchildren, and others received life-changing organ transplants that allowed them to resume daily life. Two transplant recipients, Tracy and Holly Gary, went on to found the Transplant House of West Michigan in 2024 to support patients and families.
Advocates emphasized hard numbers: one donor can save up to eight lives and help as many as 75 more through tissue donation. About 2,700 people in Michigan remain on the national transplant waiting list; nationally, another person is added every eight minutes and on average 13 people die each day while waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. Organ and tissue transplantation remains constrained by supply, organizers said, making registration and family conversations vital.
Organizers urged simple steps to join the donor registry: have your driver’s license number and the last four digits of your Social Security number ready and register through your state’s Secretary of State website. They asked West Michiganers to discuss donation wishes with loved ones and to consider procuring organs and tissues to give others a second chance.
Video originally published on 2026-04-01 18:40:22
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