Westbrook Organ Recipient Shares His Story

Scott Linscott, a Westbrook resident and organ recipient, was our guest and speaker on September 8.   Scott held the meeting spellbound as he told the story of how his own medical emergency at Disney World in May of 2011 when he found out his liver had failed and he had only a short time to live, resulted in a partial liver transplant from his son, and started Scott on his life’s work of encouraging people to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors either on a driver’s license or with the New England Organ Bank.

 

121,000 Americans are on the waiting list for an organ donation. While medications can help prolong line until a donor is found, 18 people die every day on the waiting list.  That is 6800 people a year die waiting for a donor.  Most, approximately 90,000, are waiting for a kidney.

 

About 6000 people receive liver transplants annually.  The liver will regenerate, so healthy donors can donate 60% of their liver and their own liver will regenerate. However, the top choice is a full liver transplant from a deceased donor.  Living donors are used only after waiting to determine if a deceased donor can be found.  This waiting can be problematic in New England, where the wait is the worst in the US, behind only California.

 

To register to become a donor, visit http://www.organdonor.gov/ .  You can also sign up when you renew your driver’s license.