Advocates Rally To Raise Awareness For Organ And Tissue Donation
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A march and rally took place in Center City on Saturday to raise awareness to the importance of organ and tissue donation.
A small group marched from City Hall to Rittenhouse Square advocating organ and tissue donation registration.
"Consider organ donation and if you are an organ donor tell your friends and family just in case," said a donor advocate.
Once at Rittenhouse square their song 'A Circle of Life' was performed and there were personal accounts from people like Joe Pratt of South Jersey, who was diagnosed about 10 years ago with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. He received a lung transplant nearly three years ago.
"I got so I really had no quality of life what so ever. Look at me now I'm a picture of health. And this is what organ donation does it gives somebody a second chance at life," Pratt said.
Liz Lowry is with Gift of Life.
"One person can save up to eight lives through organ donation and enhance the lives of about 50 people through tissue donation."
More than 120,000 people are waiting nationally for a life saving transplant, 6,000 are in our region. For more information, visit www.donors1.org/register.
