Seventeen people die in this country every day waiting for an organ transplant. More than 103,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list. Most are waiting for kidney transplants – in fact almost 89,000. Nearly 16,000 kidney transplants have been performed so far this year.

Nineteen-year-old Brianna Herrera is one of them. She suffers from Alport Syndrome, which damages the tiny blood vessels in the kidneys. Brianna has been waiting for a kidney since last spring. On The Spark Monday, she talked about waiting for a kidney after being diagnosed two years ago,"I feel every single symptom. I felt nauseous. I wasn't able to wake up to go to school waiting for a kidney transplant. It's  frustrating, but it's so relieving to know that there's an answer, that there's something that I can rely on. It's completely terrifying, I will admit. But it's something that gives me hope."

The Spark focused on organ donation Monday and why there seems to be some confusion or reluctance when it comes to donating. Rick Hasz is the President and CEO of the Gift For Life program,"When we do polls and we ask people do you support organ and tissue donation? Resoundingly, overwhelmingly, 95% of the people that we talk to are very supportive of organ donation. But when we asked, did you then take that next step and speak about donation with your family or put that donor designation on your license, that's where you see that folks aren't as willing to do that. Some of that is just, I think, our culture and not always wanting to talk about death and what might happen after that. I don't think organ donation is any different than people putting together their wills or talking about how they want to deal with other aspects of their pre-planning. And I think we just have to be able to talk about it because so many people's lives depend upon that simple."

Gary Stever's son Dave died from  fall in July of 2022. His kidneys and pancreas were donated. Gary spoke to his five children about organ donation," Back when they were all turning teenagers and getting their licenses, I had the conversation with them about being an organ donor. I've always been one. And then I left the decision up to them. So Dave ultimately decided on his own to be an organ donor."

On The Spark, Gary called Dave's organ donate a gift,"To look back on years of amazing life with him and then suddenly life without him. The fact that we can now envision amazing people like Brianna, who will one day get to the top of that list, who we know are living and thriving in their own lives, it is something substantial and positive for my family to hold onto rather than just fill that void with sorrow."

Learn more about how to donate you organs here.

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