The impact of multicultural donation
08/1/2024Apache Life and Traditions Surrounding Organ Donation
She lives where organ donation is never discussed, but Imogene Stevens of the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona is having difficult conversations.
The fact that the reservation sits about two hours away from any major Arizona city may contribute to a lack of exposure to donation for transplantation that the people of this community have. Stevens also notices a cultural barrier to learning and teaching about the gift of life.
“We don’t talk about death,” Stevens says. “It makes people uncomfortable. They think it might bring it on.”
As a rare dual-kidney recipient, Stevens encourages her Apache community to register as organ and tissue donors – even convincing some to accept a transplant they desperately need to end the taboo.
Her donation journey started when she was a teenager, and she went into kidney failure in the spring of 2018. In 2021, an organ donor saved her life. Now she works to create better access to the gift of life for others in her Apache community by sharing her story.
Celebrating National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month
Come be part of our August celebration as we honor National Multiethnic Donor Awareness Month (NMDAM)! Together, we’ll champion lifesaving and life-healing acts across diverse communities by creating an inclusive culture around organ and tissue donation.
NMDAM began as National Minority Donor Awareness Week. It started in 1996 under the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP). Its mission aimed to raise awareness about donation and transplantation in multicultural communities, focusing primarily on Black and African American, Hispanic and Latino, Native American and Asian and Pacific Islander populations.
Throughout NMDAM, organ procurement organizations, hospitals and community partners share the stories of lifesaving and life-healing gifts of organ and tissue donation within multiethnic communities. They provide education on donation, host registration opportunities and share inspiring stories of donation and transplantation. NMDAM plays a crucial role in spreading positive messages and encouraging multiethnic communities to consider registering as an organ and tissue donor.
A sigh of relief
Geriece Hightower was rushed to a hospital in September 2023, and her prognosis scared her loved ones. Just less than a month later, doctors eventually said her only chance to leave the hospital was through kindness from a complete stranger.
Geriece learned she had cystic fibrosis (CF) when she was young. CF causes life-threatening damage to the lungs and other organs. So, the possibility of needing a lung-transplant always loomed above her, and a bout with a COVID-19 infection in 2021 brought that reality even closer.
“We are incredibly grateful for families who choose to take an incredibly difficult situation and selflessly give the gift of life,” says Geriece. “For us that means we now have a responsibility to maximize this second chance and use our lives to pay it forward.”
After a month-long hospital stay, getting put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to make up for her lung failure, a transplant team added her to the national organ waiting list. On the list for less than 24 hours, in October 2023, a donor matched with her in the nick of time – a testament to just how urgently she needed the transplant to save her life because her lungs were only working at 9%.
“Although death is inevitable,” Geriece says, “it’s possible to give potential seeds of life that can extend someone else’s journey and bring beauty to an otherwise tragic situation.”
Donation and transplantation in multicultural communities
Organ and tissue donation and transplantation in multicultural communities happens all year long and can be cross cultural.
Transplants can be successful regardless of the ethnicity of the donor and recipient. However, the chance of longer-term survival may be greater if the donor and recipient are closely matched in terms of their shared genetic background for most organs.
In 2023, organ donors saved the lives of 703 Arizonans.
The selflessness of multiethnic donors shattered records in that same year. More Black and African American, Hispanic and Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander and Native American donors said yes to the gift of life resulting in over 46,000 lifesaving transplants.
Currently, there are 1,683 people on the Arizona waiting list. Roughly 60% of that list come from a non-white ethnic background.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Imagine the impact we can make – saving and healing lives across diverse communities by fostering a positive culture around organ and tissue donation. Our goal? To build a transplant community that celebrates the diversity of all Arizonans and ensures equitable access to lifesaving treatments for everyone.
You can help. Register as an organ and tissue donor online today at www.DonateLifeAZ.org or when you apply for or renew your driver license or ID at an ADOT or third-party office location.