Jan 21, 2023 3 min read

The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) announced a fourth consecutive year of record-breaking donations in 2022.

CORE saw 858 life-saving transplants made possible by 334 organ donors, a 23% increase in transplants over the previous year.

Heart transplants rose 50% from 2021, and the nonprofit reported record numbers across transplant categories.

Most notable were heart (89 total), kidney (454 total) and cornea (1,073 total) transplants.

“I speak for all of us at CORE when I say I am overwhelmed with gratitude for our donors and their families who said ‘yes’ to organ donation, offering a second chance at life for hundreds of recipients last year,” said Susan Stuart, president and CEO of CORE. “They gave that second chance to a grateful recipient without anything in return, and we call that true heroism. Those recipients they Saved and Healed are making the most of their second chances-seeing their children getting married, hugging their grandchildren and running 5Ks when before their transplants they could not walk without the help of oxygen.”

CORE also reported its second-highest number of tissue donors ever in 2022, with 1,297 donors in total. Across its organ, tissue and cornea donation efforts, the nonprofit saved and healed more than 1,200 lives last year.

Despite a successful year, need for donors remains urgent, CORE noted. A new person is added to the national transplant list every 10 minutes, and nearly 2,600 people are waiting for a life-saving transplant in CORE’s service region. Yet, only half of Pennsylvanians and a third of West Virginians are registered as organ donors.

Dr. Kalathil Sureshkumar, a nephrologist at Allegheny Health Network, considers organ transplantation a modern marvel of medicine, and advocates for organ donation.

“You give the gift of life. It is the best gift you can give someone,” said Sureshkumar. “The main problem we have is availability. The sobering fact is that people wait and wait and wait, and die on the waiting list. We want to give the message to the public that giving an organ is the best thing you can do in your life. Everyone can contribute to that.”

Twenty people die each day waiting for a transplant.

One organ donor can heal the lives of eight people, and a tissue donor can heal and change the lives of more than 75 others.

Stuart said anyone can sign up to be an organ, tissue and cornea donor, regardless of age or medical history. To register, visit core.org/register.