GREATER SUDBURY — Thanks to a stranger's decision to be an organ donor, Sudbury's Georgette Désormeaux is alive today.
In October 1991, when her heart was on the verge of failing, Désormeaux received a life-saving heart transplant. Her heart, which once belonged to a 37-year-old man, is still ticking today, almost 25 years later.
Before her transplant, Désormeaux said she had to spend more than two years in Ottawa, waiting for a heart to becomes available.
“You're in a bed, waiting for somebody to die for you to live,” she said.
Today, there are around 1,600 people in Ontario who are waiting for life-saving organs to become available, like Désormeaux was in 1991.
On Tuesday, Mayor Brian Bigger declared the month of April as Organ Donor Awareness Month during an event organized by the Irish Heritage Club of Sudbury.
The club has long promoted organ donation in Greater Sudbury, which now tops the list of Ontario municipalities for the number of registered organ donors.
“The greater municipality of Sudbury is up around 52 per cent,” said Irish Heritage Club of Sudbury member Michael Quinn.
Organ donor rates in Ontario overall are closer to 29 per cent, he said, and larger municipalities like Toronto have rates that are even lower.
But even with Greater Sudbury's relatively high numbers, Quinn said the numbers can always be better.
“There's no reason why it couldn't be much closer to 100 per cent,” he said.
On May 14, the club will host an organ donation awareness day at the Grace Hartman Theatre in Bell Park. People will be able to register as organ donors at the site.
It's also possible to register online, at BeADonor.ca.
