Flags were raised in three New Brunswick cities on Tuesday for National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week and Green Shirt Day. (Photo by Tamara Steele)
New Brunswickers are encouraged to declare their intentions to become organ and tissue donors.
National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week is marked across Canada from April 18 to 24.
Many people are not aware the decision to donate organs and tissue is made through your Medicare card not your driver’s licence.
Debbie Jefferson is the eye bank manager at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Saint John. She attended a flag-raising ceremony Tuesday afternoon outside Saint John City Hall.
“The New Brunswick Organ and Tissue Program has three divisions. We have the organ program, the tissue division and the ocular division – the eye bank,” Jefferson said.
Wednesday is Green Shirt Day honouring the Logan Boulet Effect.
Boulet, a member of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, saved six lives through donations after his tragic death in the 2018 bus crash.
Saint John Mayor Don Darling raised the flag for National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week and Green Shirt Day at City Hall over the lunch hour. pic.twitter.com/kUow4uDb1D
— Tamara Steele (@tamarasteele1) April 6, 2021
Jefferson said 4,400 Canadians are waiting for organ donation.
“Each year there are around 250 people, unfortunately, that pass away waiting for an organ. In New Brunswick, we have about 125 to 150 people on the list for organs and it fluctuates,” Jefferson said.
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