Tuesday afternoon Mayor Brian Arrigo joined heart recipients and Revere residents in celebrating National Donor Day on Valentine’s Day with New England Donor Services.
For Arrigo the awareness-raising is personal. His father received a lung transplant in July 2014, which enabled him to have two more years of life, time to see his son get married, time to see his grandson born and time to see his son elected Mayor of Revere.
“Those two years really were a lifetime,†Arrigo said. “Today in Massachusetts there are more than 3,000 people who are awaiting a lifesaving organ transplant donation. We support them by enrolling in the Massachusetts Donor Registry. The little heart on the license really does give another chance.â€
He thanked the Registry of Motor Vehicles for providing the donor registry services when obtaining or renewing a driver’s license. Everyone who selects to be a donor will have a little red heart attached to their license.
“You can make a choice today that positively impacts so many people lives,†Arrigo said.
Revere residents Bob Sawyer, a heart recipient; Katelyn Argueta, a heart recipient and fourth grade student at the Hill School; and Carol Dullea, the grandmother of a donor, shared their stories and encouraged people to consider donation.
In 2018, over 1,120 lives were saved in New England with organ transplants. There are over 113,500 patients on the U.S. transplant wait list and there are 110 million registered donors throughout the country.