Breaking down the myths surrounding organ donation

Family means everything to Courtney Chaires. That's why it hit her so hard when her mother Lisa passed away.

“In August 2018, I got a call that she had gone into cardiac arrest. For as long as I can remember, she had wanted to be an organ donor,” Chairs said. .

Lisa was able to save two lives through organ donation.

“She kind of lives on inside someone else,” Chairs said.

According to the Center for Organ Donation and Transplantation, New York ranks 49th out of 50 states in the number of registered eligible donors, but the demand for donors is the third highest in the country. One New Yorker dies every 15 hours while waiting for a life-saving transplant.

When it comes to organ donation, there are several myths that prevent people from applying.

“First of all, people think, 'I'm too old to be a donor.' Actually, age doesn't matter. Our oldest donor was 95 years old,” said Donation and Transplant Center says Laura Fisset, senior specialist in hospital and community services at .

She said that being an organ donor in the United States is not against any organized religion, and many people believe that if you are an organ donor, hospitals will not do everything in their power to save your life. But she says that's not true.

“The way to check the registry is to search all the electronic databases to see if someone is a donor, but only organ procurement organizations and health departments have access to that. I don't even know if they are real donors,” Fisset said.

Overall, Chairs says all the support has made the process easier, but she says there needs to be more awareness of what organ donation is.

“If more people register as donors, more families will be able to receive a loved one. That person has passed away. This is their last act of kindness,” Chairs said.