DATE: April 6, 2012

CONTACT:

Jennifer Krouse

Jennifer.krouse@lifelinkfound.org

813-253-2640/800-262-5775

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL IS DONATE LIFE MONTH

TAMPA, FL – (April 6, 2012) – Today, 18 people will die because the life-saving organ transplant they awaited never arrived. Today, nearly 140 people will take their place by joining the waiting list, hoping to beat the odds and receive the life-saving organ transplant they need. Today, nearly 114,000 people in the United States await a life-saving transplant, and of those, approximately 4,000 are our friends and neighbors in Florida. Unless we do something, tomorrow will be exactly the same.

This April, during the federally sanctioned Donate Life Month, LifeLink® of Florida honors the spirit of those individuals who make transplants possible—organ, tissue and eye donors. We celebrate the lives of those who received their second chance - and finally, we call attention to the men, women and children who still wait.

Today, we encourage the Tampa Bay community to take action to save lives. Register on Florida’s organ and tissue donor registry to become an organ and tissue donor by visiting www.DonateLifeFlorida.org.

One organ donor can potentially save the lives of eight people, and improve the lives of dozens more through tissue donation. Donation, with the primary example of living kidney donation, occurs after death and deciding to register as a donor does not impact your medical care should you become ill or injured in an accident. People of all ages can choose to donate and help others in need, and donation is supported by all major religions as a personal choice and act of generosity. Donation places no financial burden on the donor’s family.

Contact LifeLink® of Florida for more information. LifeLink of Florida is a non-profit community service organization dedicated to the recovery of organs and tissues for transplantation. To register as an organ donor, visit www.DonateLifeFlorida.org

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