National Donate Life Month Reminds Us To Give

There are deathbed confessions, but in the case of Brendan Costello Jr., it was a deathbed donation: In January, as his grieving family sat by him as he was dying, they learned for the first time that he had registered to be an organ donor.

Costello’s tale, as reported in the New York Times, serves as a reminder that April is National Donate Life Month.

In Costello’s case, the 55-year-old who was known to be contrarian and witty had made his donor plans in secret. The outcome: his sister, initially shocked at the revelation, was able to choose “directed donation” and gifted one of Costello’s kidneys to a mentor. His other kidney went to a man in Pennsylvania, his lungs to a woman in Tennessee; his eyes were donated to yet a third recipient.

The Donate Life America annual initiative is to remind the public about organ and tissue donation, and encourage adults to register to become donors.

By the Numbers

According to Donate Life America, a nonprofit organization with hundreds of partners:

• More than 100,000 people are on the national organ transplant waiting list.
• Another person is added to the waiting list every eight minutes.
• One donor can save the lives of eight or more people.
• In 2024, more than 24,000 donors brought new life to recipients and their families.

Organs that can be donated include the heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestines and eyes.

Hospital staff line the halls during an “honor walk” for an organ donor.
Credit: The University of Vermont Medical Center

The National Donor Registry matches donors with recipients. Interested individuals can register at the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, through Donate Life America or by selecting the organ donor option when getting or renewing their driver’s license.

Despite the fact that Costello’s family ultimately appreciated his generous gesture, those involved in organ donation say it’s important to discuss one’s wish to be an organ donor with family. That way, they won’t be surprised when they learn their loved one is on the registry.

As people die, they give life to others, and earn the honor walk in hospital halls that precedes the actual process of removing organs that will go to others.

Said one nurse participating in that ritual: “To me, taking part in an Honor Walk is just that: an honor. It allows all of us to take moment to honor the patient and their family, and recognize their selfless act and their desire to give the ultimate gift to others…life!”