Every 10 minutes, another person is added to the national transplant waiting list — and 82  percent are in need of a kidney. Some people spend an average of 4 to 7 years waiting for an organ on the National Organ Transplant registry. But with a living kidney donor, the wait time can be just a few months.

In honor of National Donate Life Month celebrated in April each year, we encourage you to get educated on living organ donation and how you can become someone’s real life superhero.

What You Should Know

Donors must be at least 18, but there is no age limit if you’re in good health. Don’t rule yourself out even if you think you might not qualify. Anyone considering living donation essentially goes through the best physical of his or life –and will be evaluated thoroughly by the transplant team.

Not a match, not a problem. You can join a Kidney Swap Program that allows incompatible pairs to participate in a kidney paired exchange.

Living donors pay zero costs related to surgery. Evaluation and surgery are covered by Medicare or the recipient’s insurance.

Hartford HealthCare now pays 100 percent of a full-time employee’s salary for up to six weeks if they donate an organ and have the transplant done at Hartford Hospital. The new benefit is designed to give peace of mind to employees who want to give his extraordinary gift but are unsure about the financial impact of taking several weeks off from work.

Drs. Caroline Rochon and Bejon Maneckshana, Transplant surgeons at Hartford Hospital, encourage anyone interested in living donation to find out more. Though transplantation is a delicate procedure, both surgeons humbly say that donors are the heroes.

“I want to thank them,” says Dr. Maneckshana. “It’s a great thing they are doing. Very courageous and giving.  It’s a privilege and an honor to be part of this process. The real people who are saving lives are the donors.”

If you are interested in learning more about the process of becoming a donor, please reach out to one of our Living Donation Coordinators at Hartford Hospital, Kari Rancourt, RN, at 860.972.9918 or Asamoah (Azzy) Anane, RN, at 860.972.4632. You can get more information on living donation by clicking here.