Doctors in Austin are trying to urgently match five-year-old Leland with a new kidney. He鈥檚 on dialysis, and in the highest and most urgent category of patients needing a new organ.
is an example of the pressing need for organ donors in Texas and across the U.S.
The most common kinds of transplanted kidneys are from cadavers or adults who recently died and donated their organs. But living organ matches are possible too. Dr. Mark Shen, the president of , says a kidney from a living adult could work as a transplant for Leland:
鈥淭hat is a possibility with kidneys. You can take an adult kidney and even use it in somebody Leland鈥檚 size.鈥�
Kidneys are the organs in highest demand.
鈥淭hink about this,鈥� says Michelle Segovia. 鈥淚f you or your loved one needed a life-saving organ transplant, wouldn鈥檛 you want that gift to be available to you?鈥�
Segovia is with the . She says people should keep in mind that transplants are usually more successful if the donor and the recipient share a genetic similarity. So if more minorities donate their organs, more minorities will get the transplants they need.
鈥淧eople need organ transplants more now than ever, especially in the minority communities where we see a higher incidents of hyper tension and diabetes,鈥� Segovia says.
More than 12,000 people in Texas need a transplant. And in Texas, 44 percent of people on the waiting list are Latino.
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