Saskatchewan residents are being urged to register as organ donors as the province marks the seventh annual Green Shirt Day.
The day is a national campaign recognizing the legacy of 21-year-old Logan Boulet, who was killed eight years ago in the Humboldt Broncos crash, along with 15 others.
Boulet died the day after the crash, which was also around a month after becoming an organ donor.
Green Shirt Day organizers say Boulet’s decision helped save six lives.
At Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital on Tuesday, organizers set up a Green Shirt Day booth to share information on how to become an organ donor.
“We do need to have that larger pool of people who are open, so that when we assess and when we find opportunities, we have more people to be able to pull from,” said Lindy Brown, Saskatchewan Health Association organ and tissue donation coordinator.
Brown says that over 4,000 Canadians are waiting for a life-saving transplant.
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Saskatchewan’s health ministry says it has seen a 27 per cent increase in organ donors since 2017.
The number of donors took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Brown, adding that awareness in the last few years has been helping.
“Since that time, as it went down, things are climbing back up again. So we’re about where we were pre-COVID, but with the trajectory going up. So things are looking really good,” she said.
Kim Groff was born with lattice corneal dystrophy, a rare eye disorder that causes painful erosions on the cornea.
“When I had them, it was basically lying in the dark for five or six days until it healed, and then away we go,” he said.
As his vision started to worsen, Groff said his doctor recommended that he get a cornea transplant — something he followed through with around 30 years ago.
“The opportunity to have a donation and regain my sight definitely improved my life. Otherwise, I would probably be basically blind by now.”
For Groff, Green Shirt Day is one to remember Boulet.
“We have to honour his legacy and what he did and how that can only help move the availability of organs forward,” said Groff.
In Saskatchewan, anyone over 16 can register to become an organ or tissue donor after death.
“On Green Shirt Day, we honour Logan Boulet and the powerful legacy of organ and tissue donation,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Tuesday on social media.
But registering is just the first step, with sharing your decision with your family the next one.
“So they’re aware when tragedy does come, what your hopes would be.”
–with files from The Canadian Press
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