The Community Spoke
And We Listened
It’s not uncommon for African Americans to be mistrusting of the health care system and skeptical of the organ and tissue donation process. We launched Let’s Talk to reach out to those communities, where people are more likely to need an organ transplant, yet less likely to sign up as donors. We talked with people in the community and encouraged them to share their stories, to break down misconceptions, to address myths and to encourage their neighbors, families and friends to sign up as donors.
In the U.S., there are more than 100,000 people waiting for a life-saving organ, and about 60 percent of them represent racial and ethnic minorities. In Michigan, it’s about 40 percent of the patients on the waiting list. This is a discussion that can save lives.
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‘It’s all in Divine order’
Aarolyn McCullough knew she would need a liver transplant more than 10 years before her miracle happened. Diagnosed in the late 1990s with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, a disease that attacks the bile ducts in the…
Two-time kidney recipient inspires others to lead healthier lives
One minute Oliver Hale was on top of the world, the next he was flat on his back. Hale, a Kentwood resident, had just won his first United States Tennis Association tournament in 1983 and…