Organ transplants by the numbers
* In the U.S., more than 120,000 men, women and children are awaiting an organ transplant. About 3,552 Ohioans are on a waiting list for one or more organs.
* Every 10 minutes, another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.
* An average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.
* According to research, 98 percent of adults have heard of organ transplants and 86 percent have heard of tissue transplants.
* About 90 percent of Americans say they support organ donations but only 30 percent know the steps to become a donor.
* There are 10 organ transplant centers in Ohio.
Sources: DonateLife.net; Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Statistics are as of April 18, 2014.
Eighteen people die each day in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant such as a heart, kidney, liver, pancreas or lung, according to Donate Life Ohio, a coalition of the state’s organ, eye and tissue recovery agencies.
In Ohio — where a resident dies every 48 hours waiting for a transplant — there are more than 3,500 people on the waiting list for a life-saving organ transplant. Nationally, more than 122,200 Americans are on the waiting list.
A 2010 study found that more than 90 percent of Ohioans said they have a positive view of organ donation and 80 percent said they would wish to donate to a patient in need. But only 54 percent of Ohioans actually made the commitment of joining the Ohio Donor Registry, according to Donate Life Ohio.
In 2004, Peter Titlebaum, a professor at the University of Dayton, was the first person to make an altruistic donation of an organ to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, which was formerly known as University Hospital.
Titlebaum donated one of his kidneys without knowing who the recipient would be. He said he can remember when NBA and Georgetown University basketball star Alonzo Mourning needed a kidney, and more than 300 donors stepped up to offer one of theirs.
Since coming to Dayton in 1991, Titlebaum said he had always been a blood donor. But while on a sabbatical, he thought about becoming an organ donor and determined that this was something he could do. He said he was brought up to help others who needed help.
“My rationale is that someone needs to have a ‘do-over’ because of something that happened through no fault of their own,” Titlebaum said. “Why can’t we do something for someone?”
Titlebaum said his goal is not to become “a poster child for organ donations,” but “this was the right thing for me.”
“Some people have been on a waiting list for several years,” he said. “If this was your own kid, you wouldn’t think twice (about donating an organ).”
After donating one of his kidneys, Titlebaum said he worked out lightly the day after the surgery. He resumed his career at UD and returned to be with his very supportive family. Titlebaum also resumed his active lifestyle. He is an avid cyclist and logged more than 4,000 miles last year.
Titlebaum described his experience as “surreal” because society is still having this conversation. He said he would like to see the number of donors increase and see the number of people on waiting lists decrease.
“Life is precious and this is something that some of us can do,” he said.
After designating himself as a possible organ donor, Don Melilo, 63, of West Chester Twp. learned in 2012 that he had cancer. He received his liver transplant in October 2012 at UC Medical Center.
The Connecticut native said he adds the “organ donor” designation every time he renews his driver’s licence and has done so for the last 20 years. He said some of his friends and neighbors were unaware of how to become an organ donor.
“The impact that this person had made to me, my family and my friends was an unbelievable feeling,” Melilo said. “That one person can impact more than one life.”
He said a person could help several people as a result of a tissue or organ donation.
Melilo said he grew up reading superhero comic books, but now, “I have new superhero — my donor.”
“That person saved my life,” he said.
Melilo remembers receiving a phone call at 2 a.m. telling him to be at the hospital in an hour. He said he arrived at UC Medical Center at 3 a.m., but his transplant surgery was delayed until later that afternoon. After the procedure that took six to eight hours, Melilo needed additional surgery due to some complications. He also learned that he was allergic to one of the anti-rejection drugs.
Once that issue was resolved, he was released from the hospital 18 days later. Melilo said most transplant patients usually stay in the hospital five to 10 days after the procedure.
Prior to his surgery, Melilo said he endured various issues, but the support he received from his family, friends and neighbors helped him through his ordeal. Melilo said he continued to work until he couldn’t do it anymore, just weeks before he received the call for his transplant.
He recalled his wife forced him to eat, even though he wasn’t hungry. Melilo also said there were many times he’d come home and go to straight to bed because of his illness.
“My wife was so important,” Melilo said. “I would have my moments, and she would have her moments, but I never saw it.”
Melilo said he returned to his full-time job as a sales analyst about three months after the surgery and that he feels like a new person.
While he doesn’t know who his donor was or how they died, Melilo remains very thankful to the donor and family.
Melilo wrote a letter to the donor’s family through the hospital that thanked them for what they did for him. However, he has not received a response and said he plans to try again.
He continues to give back by sharing his experience at periodic orientations for new transplant patients at UC Medical Center.
“I hope people think about becoming an organ donor so they could be a superhero for someone,” Melilo said. “The rewarding thing is when people say, ‘Holy cow! There really is a life after this.’”
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