For fifth year in a row, organ donations in Arizona on the rise
Jan 19, 2018, 4:40 AM
(Flickr/US Army)
PHOENIX — The number of organ donations was up 16 percent in Arizona in 2017 compared to the year before, marking the fifth year in a row that this number has increased.
According to Nico Santos with Donate Life Arizona, 267 donors in Arizona saved the lives of 701 people through organ donation.
“It was record-breaking,” Santos said.
Those 267 donors transplanted more than 830 organs, Santos said, helping save lives across the country.
But that was not the only record-breaking number recorded in 2017: Santos said for the past five years, the number of donors, total organs donated, lives saved and Hispanics donating has gone up.
In addition, more than 272,000 Arizonans registered to be organ donors. That brings the total number up to more than 3.2 million people in the state who are organ donors.
KTAR News’ Ali Vetnar contributed to this report.