The wait: Life on the transplant list

April 20, 2008

BY MONIFA J. THOMAS AND KARA SPAK Staff Reporters

4,700. That's how many people in Illinois are on the waiting list to get a potentially lifesaving organ donation.

Most eventually will get the transplant they need before it's too late. But often they'll have to wait months, even years, for that new kidney, heart, liver or lung -- the most common types of lifesaving transplants.

It's life on pause.

Consider Emma Moore, of East Garfield Park, on the city's West Side. Moore has been on the list for a new heart since August. While she waits, she has had to give up her job, her independence and her plans for retirement.

Now, the 59-year-old is beginning to give up hope.

It isn't much better for Chante Lewis, who has watched her 13-year-old son Steve Turner struggle with kidney disease most of his young life. While Steve isn't likely to die without a kidney transplant, he'll never be just a normal kid, either.

In the last few months, Sun-Times reporters have followed the lives of six people waiting for a transplant.

So far, only one of them -- 13-year-old Eduardo Montoya -- has gotten the miracle his family had been counting on.

For the rest, the clock is still ticking.

How to become an organ donor

To join the Illinois Organ/Tissue Donor Registry, visit Lifegoeson.com or call (800) 210-2106 and put your name on the confidential list, which is only released to organ and tissue procurement personnel and medical examiners after all lifesaving efforts have failed.
Gift of Hope, an Elmhurst-based non-profit, also answers questions about organ donation and gives information on how to become an organ donor at Giftofhope.org