Catrina Vines shares her experiences of donating a kidney to her aunt without hesitation, during a minority organ donation week event at Vidant Medical Center on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. (Aileen Devlin/The Daily Reflector)
When a person suffers organ failure, family often is the best source for a suitable match.
That was the case for Naomi Roundtree whose niece, Catrina Vines, gave her a kidney two years ago.
“She was a special, special child, and I’m not saying that because of the kidney,” Roundtree said. “She’s been special since she was a little child.”
However, family is not an option for many minorities seeking organ transplants. Minorities suffer a greater rate of hypertension, diabetes and other chronic illnesses that prevent them from donating.
That leaves anonymous donors as the only source of hope for most minority patients. However, minorities donate at a lower rate than whites.
National Minority Donor Awareness Week recently was observed across North Carolina to encourage people to become organ donors after educating themselves about the process.
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{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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