BOSTON – Greg Hallerman, of Hollis, will run the Boston Marathon on April 19 as part of the New England Organ Bank’s Donate Life New England Marathon Team.
The team consists of 26 marathoners who run with a Donate Life insignia emblazoned across their shirts to raise awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation and to urge those watching the marathon to consider registering to be organ and tissue donors.
“This is our fourth year with a team participating in the Boston Marathon, and it is our largest team yet,” said Jennifer Cray, New England Organ Bank marathon team coordinator.
“Among the runners is a transplant surgeon, a donor family member, a living lung donor and a living kidney donor. We hope their running will raise awareness of the need for more people to think about signing up to be donors.”
More than 4,400 patients are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in New England, and more than 106,000 across the United States. Each year, about 6,600 of those listed will die because an organ isn’t donated in time.
Additionally, more than 1 million Americans require a tissue transplant each year as part of a medical procedure. These procedures are possible because ordinary people have donated corneas, bone, tendons, heart valves and skin after death. These tissues are used to treat a wide variety of conditions, some of which may be life threatening.
This easiest way to register as a donor is to sign up online at www.DonateLifeNew England.org. The Donate Life New England Donor Registry is a computer database of individuals who have decided to be a donor, and it can be accessed in a timely way after an individual’s death so that their wish to donate may be honored.
The New England Organ Bank is the federally designated nonprofit procurement organization responsible for the surgical recovery of organs and tissues for transplant throughout New England.
Donate Life New England is a joint project of two federally designated organ procurement organizations that serve New England: LifeChoice Donor Services and New England Organ Bank. They’ve come together to create a fast and easy way for New England residents to register as organ and tissue donors in a secure and confidential manner.
For more information, visit www.donatelifenewengland.org.
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