Are you a registered organ and tissue donor? Maybe you vaguely remember filling out a paper card years ago (those are now obsolete!), or perhaps you registered online. Or at least, you meant to. Are you sure you actually followed through and registered? If you didn’t, you aren’t alone: 1.8 million Ontarians mistakenly believe they’ve registered their consent to organ and tissue donation, when in fact, their wishes haven’t been officially recorded.

April is BeADonor Month. This year, Trillium Gift of Life Network is encouraging all Ontarians to check their donor registration status. Doing something so simple can mean the difference between life and death – every three days, someone in Ontario dies waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant.

According to Trillium Gift of Life Network, while most Ontarians suggest they support organ and tissue donation, only 31% have actually registered consent. Research has found that as many as 15% of people mistakenly believe they are registered when, in fact, they are not.

Checking your registration status is easy. Look on the back of your photo health card for the word “donor”, or check online (or on your phone) at beadonor.ca/sunnybrook. Click the red button at the bottom of the page to check your registration status.

If you realize you haven’t registered your consent, or decide for the first time that you would like to register as an organ and tissue donor, you can do so at beadonor.ca/sunnybrook. If you’re still deciding about whether to register, there’s also a link at the bottom of the page that provides more information about organ and tissue donation.

This April, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is holding a donor registration drive. Our goal is to register 500 new donors, bringing our total number of registered donors to 1750! Help us reach our goal, and visit beadonor.ca/sunnybrook to check your status and register your consent. Remember, a single organ donor can save up to eight lives and enhance another 75 through tissue donation.

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