More individuals in need of organ transplants than organs available

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The list of those waiting for a transplant continues to grow, leaving more people in need than organs available.

The organs most commonly transplanted include the heart, lung, liver, pancreas and kidney. They are transplanted when an organ donor patient is declared brain dead.

The liver and kidney can be transplanted through living donations because you can live with one kidney and your liver regenerates. A liver can be divided up, and only part of it is donated.

Director of Medical Services at the Med Center Health Bowling Green campus, Leslie Rossetter, says, “A lot of people don’t want to register because they are worried about all these other things, but we try to get out in the public and educate them and let them know that it is an amazing gift that you can give, the gift of life. And so we work to try and get people to register.”

If you would like to join the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry, you can register here.