MILWAUKEE — Each day, employees at Versiti in Milwaukee see miracles happen.
“I am inspired by the courage of our donor families during a very difficult time for them, during a time of loss, that they have made a decision to save another life," said Director of Organ and Tissue at Versiti, Anne Krueger.
She says she admires the generosity of organ donors and their families.
"This is an opportunity for our donor families to rewrite that ending a bit. Of course, they're not going to be able to have their loved one back, but their legacy lives on in others.”
Krueger says there are over 103,000 children, women and men waiting for a lifesaving gift in the United States. She says there are over 1,500 in the state of Wisconsin.
She says many people know someone that could benefit from a donation.
“People who suffer from diabetes, people have chronic kidney disease, people who suffer a lifetime with cystic fibrosis. Truly if you know of anybody out there like that, it's very likely that they'll need an organ, or they need an organ.”
As far as registration goes, there are currently 170 million people in the U.S. who have registered as a donor. However, it doesn't mean all of those organs will be viable.
"The odds of anybody in the building I'm standing in now being able to donate are remote. Again, 1-2 percent of the population are eligible to donate,” Krueger explained.
She says this holiday season of giving can be a good reminder to make the choice of donation.
"There's really no better gift than the gift of life,” Krueger explained.
One single organ donor can potentially save eight lives.
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