Rockland County Officials Encourage Community Members To Join Organ Donor Registry
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Thursday is Organ Donor Enrollment Day, and there's a push in Rockland County to encourage people to register to help save lives.
Advocates say joining the organ donor registry is even more important now, since COVID-19 has created a new set of challenges for those waiting for life-saving transplants.
Roxanne Watson, who received a heart transplant, said her donor helped save the lives of four other New Yorkers.
"This is my donor. His name was Michael Beauville. He was United States Coast Guard. He was a fireman, EMT and a helicopter mechanic. Just a good kid," Watson said.
New York State Sen. David Carlucci said New York traditionally lags behind other states when it comes to eligible people participating in the organ donor registry, but that the state is making strides.
"We average about 10,000 men, women and children waiting for a life saving organ transplant," Sen. Carlucci said.
New York passed Lauren's Law in 2012. It requires people at the DMV to indicate if they would like to be an organ donor or skip the question.
It doesn't allow 16 and 17 year old's to register to be organ donors.
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