Columbus Regional Healthcare System on Wednesday honored heroes that are no longer with us. Though these folks may have never served in the war, their sacrifices have saved countless lives.
Wednesday was the 2022 Organ Donation Awareness flag-raising ceremony on the main lawn of the hospital. This event included a poem, song, and prayer in honor organ, tissue, and eye donors and their families.
The Donate Life flag was first introduced in 2006.
The flag was erected to honor those touched by donation and transplants. In last 16 years, over 50,000 Donate Life flags have flown across the United States.
Last year Honorbridge, the federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization for 77 counties in North Carolina, worked with 290 organ donors and 712 receipients.
In North Carolina there are currently over 3,000 people waiting for organ transplants and over 113,000 on the waiting list.
Anyone 18 and older with a North Carolina driver’s license or I.D. can register to do so at the Department of Motor Vehicles. A red heart is now placed on licenses and I.Ds to indicate someone’s decision to donate without having to be asked every time they visit the facility to renew. The donor’s decision stays in the DMV registry unless they change their mind.
To register online, go to www.registerme.org/campaign/nc.
