The State of Ohio & Organ Donation
Ohio Man Waits for a Heart
Jermayne Harris of Columbus has always been active. As a teenager, he ran track and was proud to quarterback his high school football team. However, at 26 years old he contracted a virus that severely damaged his heart. Although he manages a food truck with his father and recently got married, Jermayne’s activities are limited by the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) he’s connected to 24/7 that keeps his heart pumping while he waits for a transplant.
He has been on the national transplant waiting list for more than two years at The Cleveland Clinic – waiting for a second chance at life through the gift of organ donation.
Read more about Jermayne’s wait for a new heart.
Unprecedented generosity of Ohioans in 2021
For the fourth consecutive year, Donate Life Ohio - the state collaborative of organ and tissue recovery organizations - facilitated a record number of donations.
Ohio Heart Recipient Advocates on Capitol Hill
Items of Note About Donation
Fact Sheet, Stats and Service Area
- Ohio Organ Procurement Organizations
- The national transplant waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant is rising at an alarming rate, with more than 105,000 individuals currently on the list.
- Nearly 60 percent of Ohioans are registered organ, eye and tissue donors. In the United States, 50% of Americans are registered donors.
- In Ohio, more than 3,100 people are waiting for an organ transplant, and hundreds more await tissue and corneal transplants.
- Approximately 20 times each day a man, woman or child dies for lack of an available organ. Once every 48 hours, an Ohioan dies waiting. Thousands more are waiting for tissue and corneal transplants.
- In the United States, 41,354 organ transplants were performed in 2021 and more than 1.75 million tissue transplants were performed.
A New Way to Register Donors in 2022!
Coming to BMVs across Ohio in October of 2022, Ohioans can now register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor when they renew their vehicle registration!
HB21 instructs the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to ask the donation registration questions with all new and renewed licenses or registrations. The bill also increases the amount license-seekers are asked to voluntarily donate to the Second Chance Trust Fund from $1 to $2. And it increases the annual contribution for the “Donate Life” license plate from $5 to $15.
How Does An Ohioan Register As A Donor?
Ohioans may declare their wish to become a donor by registering online through www.donatelifeohio.org. Additionally, individuals may declare their decision when at the BMV.
The Ohio Donor Registry is an individual’s first-person authorization to donate the gift of life at the time of their death, if possible, through organ, eye and tissue donation.
Donate Life Ohio encourages everyone to talk to their loved ones about their donation decision. When the next-of-kin knows their loved one’s decision at the time of death, it is one of the most helpful steps a grieving family can take to deal with its loss.
Who is Donate Life Ohio?
Donate Life Ohio is a coalition of the state’s organ, eye and tissue recovery agencies dedicated to educating Ohioans about the need for registered donors and inspiring them to join the Ohio Donor Registry. These include:
- Lifeline of Ohio in Columbus
- Lifebanc in Cleveland
- Life Connection of Ohio in Dayton and Toledo
- LifeCenter in Cincinnati
- Central Ohio Lions Eye Bank
- Cincinnati Eye Bank
- Community Tissue Services
- Eversight
- Lions Eye Bank of West Central Ohio
- Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP) in Cleveland.
*Additional information may be obtained at www.donatelifeohio.org.
Resources from the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Encourages Ohioans to Register
Donor parents Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine share this very special message encouraging all Ohioans to register their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor. Their daughter Becky was a tissue and cornea donor who healed many through her gifts of donation.