George Marcello and his team of "student generals" are hoping to save lives, one step at a time.
Marcello's Torch of Life campaign made a brief stop in Stratford Wednesday as part of a 110-day, 75-community tour across Ontario to help raise awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation.
The goal is to have five million people in the province registered as donors.
"Just think of the effect that will have on the rest of Canada and the rest of world," said Marcello, as he was joined by torchbearer Khaled Khatib at the front steps of city hall.
Specifically, registering five million potential organ donors would mean that as many as 1,000 lives could be saved that might otherwise be lost, he said.
Awareness of the need for organ donors has grown since Marcello organized his first Step by Step campaign in 1997 as a way of expressing his gratitude for the liver transplant he received.
But there's still a long way to go, he said.
"It's time that people got it. It's time they take that next step and register," he said. "It's a two-minute action, and it's probably going to be the most worthwhile action any human being can make."
Khatib and fellow "generals" Kris Knowles and Helene Campbell have inspiring stories of their own, which they've shared with other young people on the campaign that began in Kenora on March 2 and will wrap up in Toronto June 19.
Read more:
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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