from KU Hospital
Gene Dorsey says two people saved his life the night he received his liver transplant — his donor Karen Martin and her husband, Victor.
“In many states, no matter what you put on your driver’s license, your next of kin has the final say,” Dorsey said. “That’s why it’s important to talk your family about your decision to be an organ donor.”
Both Gene Dorsey and Victor Martin are concerned about plans in discussion by United Network for Organ Sharing to distribute livers nationally instead of regionally. Bigger coastal cities where organ donation lags behind want to take from organs donated in the Midwest, South and Southeast, where donation rates are among the best in the nation.
Martin and Dorsey believe it is better for the patient and the liver to keep donated organs closer to home. Martin says an added benefit is knowing how his wife’s precious of gift of life was received.
“Getting to know Gene has been a blessing for me and my family,” Martin said. “I can’t imagine how we would have connected with another transplant patient and family if Karen’s organ had been flown to either coast.”
Members of the Region 8 transplant community will travel to Chicago Sept. 16, to participate in a public hearing before a UNOS committee on plans to reallocate donor livers from the highest donation regions to the sickest patients in the lowest donations regions. Dorsey and Martin want the committee to postpone plans to reallocate organs, study the issue more and work to increase organ donation among bigger coastal cities.
To see a KU Hospital video about this topic, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nupG8w79q4
– Story and video from KU Hospital