B.C. Transplant saw a spike in new registrations last week in the wake of media coverage about transplant success stories.
The Citizen ran a front page story on Jan. 29, chronicling Shane Dehod's heart transplant process. The Prince George man is recovering well three months after getting a new heart after his was damaged by cancer medication more than a decade ago.
Last year, B.C. Transplant averaged around 110 new registrations per day for its organ donor database, but in the two days after the Citizen story, 693 people signed on to the registry. That topped the 563 registrations the agency received over a full week during the same period last year.
The Citizen story was part of a province-wide blitz of media stories about transplants in the province.
More than 860,000 British Columbians have agreed to donate their organs, but B.C. Transplant would still like to see that number grow substantially. Registration can be done online at www.transplant.bc.ca.
