organ donor

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His Son Was Murdered. Then, an 'Astonishing Effect'

Boost in Italy's organ donation rate credited to Nicholas Green

(Newser) - Nineteen-year-old Maria Pia Pedala was in a coma from liver failure in Sicily, Italy, on Sept. 29, 1994, when a 7-year-old American boy was shot dead while on vacation with his family in the country. Though Italy had one of the lowest rates of organ donation in western Europe at... More »

After Devastating Ultrasound, a Remarkable Decision

Eva will be born so her organs can be donated

(Newser) - Keri Young was nearly halfway through her pregnancy when she and her husband learned that the girl she was carrying was terminally ill. Suffering from anencephaly, the fetus was developing without parts of her brain, and in almost all cases these babies die within a day or two of birth,... More »

A 2006 Suicide Attempt Took His Face. He Just Got Another

Andy Sandness becomes Mayo Clinic's first face transplant recipient

(Newser) - Andy Sandness didn't want to die—but he didn't realize that until he tried to take his own life on Dec. 23, 2006. The "super, super depressed" 21-year-old Wyoming man had shot himself beneath the chin with a rifle; when police arrived, he begged them to save... More »

Number of French Organ Donors Just Shot Up

New law presumes consent unless you opt out

(Newser) - French people who die will become organ donors unless they specifically opt out before their death, under a new law that took effect on the first day of 2017. Previously, the families of French citizens who had not specified whether they wanted to be organ donors were contacted after their... More »

After Donating a Kidney, This Medical Student Now Regrets It

'I am angry that I was never fully informed of the lack of research'

(Newser) - When he was 18, Michael Poulson did something that is undeniably selfless and brave: He donated a kidney to his stepfather's brother. Eight years later, both men are doing fine. But Poulson is now a medical student, and in an essay at the Washington Post , he writes that he... More »

107-Year-Old Organ Is Donated

Woman becomes Scotland's oldest organ donor

(Newser) - You know what they say: You're never too old to donate an organ. Well, they should say that, anyway. The Evening Times reports a woman recently became Scotland's oldest organ donor after dying at the age of 107. Her corneas were removed and are now helping a young... More »

1 in 11 Organ Donors Died of Drug Overdose Last Year

More than 20 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant

(Newser) - As the number of Americans dying of drug overdoses continues to rise—thanks in large part to an opioid epidemic—so too has the number of organ donors. In fact, the percentage of donors who died of overdoses has nearly tripled since 2006, according to data gathered by the United... More »

Message on SUV Gets Man New Kidney

Stranger decided to help ailing Ohio man

(Newser) - An ailing Ohio man whose family taped bright yellow letters asking for a kidney to the rear window of his SUV has found a donor, per the AP . The Columbus Dispatch reports 68-year-old Neal Raisman received a new kidney Friday at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center after suffering... More »

Mom Hears Dead Son Inside 4-Year-Old Girl

Heather Clark donated her son's heart after he died

(Newser) - The mother of a boy who died under suspicious circumstances was able to hear his heart beat again—inside the body of a 4-year-old girl. Heather Clark, who donated her son's organs after his death in 2013, visited the Phoenix family of donor recipient Jordan Drake for the emotional... More »

In Final Heroic Act, Man Donates Organs to Fellow Vets

In the final moments of Army veteran Matthew Whalen's life, a tribute

(Newser) - As Army veteran Matthew Whalen was wheeled down the halls of Plaza Fort Worth Medical Center in Texas in his final moments on Monday, current and former service members stood at attention in an emotional tribute. His wife, fellow veteran Hannah Whalen, said her final and tearful "I love... More »

Woman Finds Lifesaving Kidney Donor on ... Tinder?

Erika Bragan will receive kidney from friend's Tinder date on Nov. 18

(Newser) - Four people approached Erika Bragan hoping their kidney would be the one to save her life. None were matches. Then Rich O'Dea and Jennifer Thomas swiped right on Tinder. Now "we have a dating app to thank for saving my wife's life," Bragan's husband, Scott,... More »

Woman Gives Kidney to Stranger, Triggers a Chain Reaction

6 patients, 6 donors in rare series of linked transplants

(Newser) - In a rare series of interlinked operations, six patients are getting kidney transplants from six donors at a San Francisco hospital. Dr. William Bry, a surgeon at California Pacific Medical Center, said the "kidney paired donations" are occurring thanks to a woman who started a chain of donations and... More »

Teacher's Kidney a Match for Her Student, 6

Lindsey Painter to give Matthew Parker her kidney

(Newser) - Matthew Parker only makes it to Lindsey Painter's first-grade class two days a week, but the 6-year-old's attendance record is about to get a lot better: The teacher is giving him one of her kidneys and he will soon be able to go school full-time instead of going... More »

What Organ Donors Have Given America: 2.2M Years

But that's not enough, researchers say

(Newser) - Organ donors added 2,270,859 years to the lives of American transplant recipients over 25 years—a "stellar accomplishment," experts say in a study published Wednesday in JAMA Surgery . They arrived at the figure after identifying 533,329 patients who received at least one donated organ between... More »

Stranger Sees Girls' Plea, Gives Their Dad a Kidney

Donation saves life of Georgia police officer

(Newser) - A Texas man decided to step up and save the life of a total stranger hundreds of miles away after seeing the man's two young daughters plead that "Our Daddy needs a kidney." After Greensboro, Ga., police officer Raleigh Callaway went into stage 5 kidney failure, the... More »

Kidney Donors Have Brains 'Built for Compassion'

'Empathy zone' is bigger than average, study finds

(Newser) - People who donate kidneys to total strangers aren't just bighearted, they're big-brained compared to most people, researchers say. Neurologists scanned the brains of 39 such donors and found that their brains were 9% bigger than non-donors' brains—with significantly greater volume in the part of the brain that... More »

Boy's Organ Donation Rejected Because He's Gay

Family of Alexander Betts Jr couldn't give his eyes away

(Newser) - Alexander Betts Jr's heart, liver, kidneys, and lungs all went to recipients when he died following a suicide attempt last year. His eyes, however, did not—because Betts was gay, the Washington Post reports. "My initial feeling was just very angry because I couldn’t understand why my... More »

After Transplant Saves Son, Mom Returns Favor

She's donating kidney to father of deceased youth

(Newser) - It’s the kind of organ donation that California hospital officials say they’ve never seen before: The mother of a man who had a lifesaving pancreas transplant almost 10 years ago is now donating her own kidney to the father of the deceased pancreas donor. When Bill Millard’s... More »

5-Foot 'Snow Kidney' May Have Found Man a Donor

Jim Gorbunow thought sculpture would get him some attention

(Newser) - Jim Gorbunow is thinking outside the box when it comes to finding a kidney donor: To draw attention to his plight, the Minnesota man built a 5-foot snow sculpture of a kidney in his front yard last week ... and named it "Kevin." Gorbunow's brother helped him build... More »

Revolutionary Artificial Heart Transplanted

The Carmat device is designed to eliminate the need for a donor heart

(Newser) - Alain Carpentier thinks he has an answer to chronic shortages of organ donors. The French cardiac surgeon—under Carmat, the French company he founded—has invented what the Independent calls the "world's first fully artificial, self-regulating heart," and it apparently works, at least very initially. Carpentier's... More »

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