California now has seven million registered organ donors, and officials are using the milestone to remind residents that donors save lives.
"Everyone who registers will make a difference," said June Wallace, of the California Transplant Donor Network.
Wallace was speaking at a morning news conference at the California Department of Motor Vehicles office near the Oakland Coliseum.
Although California has registered more donors that any other state donor registry, the state only ranks in the bottom fifth in terms of the percentage of drivers who have registered.
Nonetheless, since the Donate Life California Registry was introduced in April 2005, donors have save more than 1,000 lives through organ donation and healed more than 35,000 people through cornea and tissue donation, registry officials said.
Natalie Szabados, a 32-year-old Castro Valley resident who received a double lung transplant in 2008 after she suffered a bacterial infection, said she is one of the people whose lives have been saved through the program.
"I was on an oxygen tank in a wheelchair and couldn't get out of bed and I thought about taking my life," Szabados said.
The transplant made all the difference, she said.
"I got my life back and I now have my goals and dreams again," she said. "I'm thankful for the donor."
Shaheda Wright, a 36-year-old Oakland woman, said her son, 13-year-old Michael Carraway, had a liver transplant in November 2008.
"He got a new liver thanks to a family in Southern California that didn't even know us," Wright said.
Joan Simmons, 61, of Oakland, said she was devastated when her son, 22-year-old Jerin Simmons, was shot to death in 1999.
She has taken some comfort in knowing that five of his organs were donated to people in need.
"It was so wonderful to meet the recipients and know that Jerin was able to help someone," Simmons said.
DMV director George Valverde, who also participated in the news conference, said people can check "Yes" to become a donor when they apply for or renew their driver's licenses.
Seven Million Ready to Rest in Pieces
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