Understanding Donation

Every day, an average of 92 people across the country receive lifesaving organ transplants, and countless others receive lifesaving tissue transplants. Many more receive the gift of sight through cornea donation.  In 2021, 249 organ donors and 547 tissue donors were recovered in Legacy of Hope’s service area, bringing countless people together in hope; 647 organ were transplanted. 

Even so, there is a critical shortage of organs across the country. More than 100,000 individuals are waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Of those, more than 1,200 are Alabamians. Every 9 minutes, a new person is added to the national organ transplant waiting list and every day 17 people die waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

The generosity of an individual donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and countless others through tissue donation. Skin is used to treat burn patients and individuals with cancer; bone can be used to treat orthopedic injuries and cancer patients.

In October 2020, the Southeast’s first uterus transplant program was launched by the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute. It is only the fourth of its kind in the United States. Click here for more information.