Organ Transplants Save Lives

WATERBURY — In the United States more than 61,000 people are on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Since demand far exceeds supply, an estimated 14 people die each day in the United States because donor organs are not available.

To help educate the public about the importance of organ donation and to dispel the myth that Judaism prohibits, it Waterbury Chapter of Hadassah is presenting an educational program about organ and tissue donation on Tuesday, April 12, at 7 pm, in MacDermid Hall 116 of Post University, 800 Country Club Road.

The public is invited to attend; advance registration is required. To register, send a check for $5 made out to Waterbury Hadassah to Marsha Stein, 452 Farmington Avenue, Waterbury CT 06710. Call 203-757-8292 for further information.

Admission includes panel discussion, handouts, and refreshments. Post University campus is located at Exit 17 off I-84.

Hadassah’s program, entitled Pikuah Nefesh — To Save a Life, will offer a panel of experts to address the facts, myths, and importance of organ donation.

Reform Rabbi Eric Polokoff and an Orthodox Rabbi from Yeshiva Gedolah will discuss the Jewish legal and ethical issues of organ donation.

Cheryl Edwards, RN, donation coordinator for New England Organ Bank, will discuss the criteria for determining brain death, what the New England Organ Bank does and when, what organs and tissues can be used, and medical overview of the donation and transplantation processes.

Lisa Slinsky, who donated her late husband’s organs after his untimely death, will discuss the realities from a family’s unique perspective. The panel will be followed by a question and answer session.