Tuesday, November 02, 1999
Beliefs influence organ donation
Payton's death could raise awareness but not supply
BY WILLIAM A. WEATHERS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
While football star Walter Payton's death will focus attention on organ donations, it won't necessarily result in increased donations, an official of the local organ donor center says.
“It certainly will bring it to the forefront,” said Mark Sommerville, assistant director of the Life Center. But “what boosts donations is everyone thinking "If this was my loved one, what would I do?'”
Mr. Payton, a star for the Chicago Bears for 13 years, died Monday of bile duct cancer. He had been awaiting a liver transplant because of a rare liver ailment, though that became impossible after the cancer was detected.
The Life Center is a nonprofit agency that coordinates organ donations in Greater Cincinnati. More than 250 people are awaiting donations in Greater Cincinnati, Mr. Sommerville said.
“There are about 80-85 people waiting for liver transplants,” said Dr. Doug Hanto, director of adult liver transplant at University Hospi tal.
The average wait for a liver transplant in Cincinnati is about a year, depending on the patient's blood type, he said.
“Ten percent of the patients on the waiting list die while waiting for a liver,” he said. “We don't have enough livers to go around.”
Nationally, 13 people die each day awaiting an organ transplant, Mr. Somerville said.
“All organs are greatly needed,” he said. “What's needed is more people to donate.
“We obtain the family's consent even if there's a signed donor card. That's why it's so important to let their family know their wishes.”
A recent survey indicated that 50 percent of Greater Cincinnatians have had organ donor stickers placed on their driver's license, Mr. Sommerville said. Eighty-eight percent say they're willing to donate, and 75 percent have discussed it with their family members.
Reasons for not donating an organ include religious concerns and concern that family members have been through enough dealing with a death, Mr. Sommerville said.
“It's a matter of personal choice,” Mr. Sommerville said. “When they say "no,' somebody's going to die.”
Continued public education on the importance of organ donations can help ease the organ donor shortage, Dr. Hanto said.
Using living donors is also a solution.
Related transplants involve taking part of the liver of a relative for transplantation.
Dr. Hanto said he recently performed a related transplant on 22-year-old Dayton man who suffered from the same rare liver disease as Mr. Payton. He transplanted the right lobe of the father's liver to the son, and the patient's prognosis is for a full life is good, he said.
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