It was a banner year for organ donations and transplants in New England.
On Wednesday morning, New England Donor Services (NEDS) announced that it set a record in 2023 for the number of organ donations from deceased donors in its service area.
Last year, 549 deceased individuals donated organs, resulting in 1,401 life-saving transplants, according to the announcement. That places NEDS among the top four organ-procurement organizations in the United States by donor volume.
One of the recipients was Phyllis Wilkerson of Stamford, who received a kidney transplant and a heart transplant on the same day in 2023.
“The organ donations I received saved my life,” Wilkerson said. “I am beyond grateful to the donor and their family for thinking of others even as they grieved the loss of a loved one.”
NEDS also facilitated donations of tissue from 1,733 donors, including cornea, bone, skin and heart valves used in necessary medical procedures.
NEDS coordinates organ and tissue donation in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, the eastern counties of Vermont and Bermuda. It also allocates organs according to the national transplant waiting list.
Since 2020, NEDS has seen an increase in the annual number of organ donors by 52%, the group said.
One person can save up to eight lives as an organ donor and heal 75 people as a tissue donor, according to NEDS.
“It is the thoughtfulness and generosity of our organ and tissue donors and their families who said ‘yes’ to the decision to donate, that makes these life-saving transplants a reality,” said Alexandra K. Glazier, president and CEO of NEDS. “The consecutive years of high performance demonstrate why our nation’s system of donation and transplantation is considered the best in the world.”
NEDS, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, has more than 300 employees who screen for potential donation opportunities and coordinate surgical recovery of donated organs and tissues, among other things.
New England residents can register as donors on their driver’s license, through the Apple iPhone health app or on the national Donate Life Donor Registry at www.RegisterMe.org.
