April is National Donate Life Month, dedicated to spreading the word about how organ and tissue donations can save lives.

As we learned in the Thursday, April 24, edition of the Butler Eagle, a son, Zane Slater, recently donated a kidney to his mother, Anna Castello, and the two of them are working to raise awareness about organ donation.

And there is a tremendous need for organ donors — both living and deceased.

Over 100,000 people across the nation, including 7,000 in Pennsylvania, are awaiting an organ transplant. And 17 of those people die every day without receiving a transplant.

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, an organ donor can save up to eight lives and enhance as many as 75 more.

And while most organ donations come from cadavers, living donors like Zane Slater can offer a kidney, part of a liver, bone marrow and other tissue.

Because most people are born with two kidneys but are able to function well with just one, living kidney donations are the most common, according to Rush University Medical Center.

Castello, who has had two kidneys from living donors — the first was from her sister more than 20 years ago — knows well how much impact the decision to become an organ donor can have.

“Everyone should be a donor to save lives,” Castello said.

For information about how to become an organ donor, visit organdonor.gov.

— JK