CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Tennessee drivers now have a new way to show their support for organ donation right on their license plate.
Right now, more than 3,000 Tennesseans are waiting for a life-saving transplant, a number that grows every day.
A new specialty plate featuring the Donate Life Tennessee logo is now available, thanks to recent action by the state legislature.
We spoke with the Public Education Coordinator of Tennessee Donor Services Dawn Benjamin, who says the need for organ donors is urgent, with thousands of Tennesseans waiting, and many dying, before a match is found.
Here is what Dawn Benjamin told News 12:
“I think it just brings attention to the great need that we have you know because the list is so great. We estimate that 17 people die every day waiting not because doctors don’t know how to save their life but because there’s not an organ match found in time so really we could say that this is a health crisis in our nation”
The plate is a powerful symbol that helps save lives with proceeds funding education and expanding the donor registry.
We also met a liver transplant recipient who shared his personal story from the waitlist to the operating room.
Harry Dillon, Organ Recipient, told News 12 that he “got a phone call and they said that I had been placed on the donation donor list the list and didn’t know a whole lot about what that entailed. I had read you know people waiting people waiting people waiting well I was very blessed and to this day I don’t understand why I was placed on the list for four hours. I received my liver.”
For Harry Dillon, organ donation wasn’t just a gift, it was a second chance at life.
When asked how important this cause is, Dillon went on to say this:
“I don’t know that I would have lived another month. You know at that time blood work had gotten really bad real quickly so I probably wouldn’t live so the more people that sign up to donate the more options there are in the shorter period of time people might have to wait.”
Drivers can be among the first to show their support by reserving the plate online at DonatelifeTNPlate.org.
It only takes a few minutes, but it carries a message of hope with every mile.
It’s a small step that raises awareness and could help save a life.
Half of the plate fee supports Donate Life Tennessee, while the other half helps fund education and outreach through the Tennessee Arts Commission.
