Organ donors needed locally and nationwide

Detrick Witherspoon was a man in Jackson who loved his family and did what he could to help others.

When he tragically died in 2023, his last act of helping others was fulfilling the statement he made on the back of his driver’s license when he became an organ donor.

Because of that action, Witherspoon’s memory and legacy are honored with a poster at the Jackson location of the Department of Motor Vehicles where people get their driver’s license.

The poster is used to tell Witherspoon’s story as well as to hopefully recruit others to commit to organ donation as well.

“When a person says they’re willing to be an organ donor, that person can save up to eight lives and improve the lives of 75 others,” said Byron Elam, the external affairs coordinator for West Tennessee for Tennessee Donor Services.

The eight lives that can be saved are with one heart, two lungs, two kidneys, pancreas, liver and intestines. The 75 potential life improvements are through various tissues such as tendons, cornea and other parts of the body that can be restored through tissue donation.

As of Monday, 103,936 people in America are awaiting a life-saving organ transplant.

Locally, organ donors saved 56 lives in 2023 at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. In 2024, donors have already surpassed 2023’s total with four months remaining in the year.

“Mr. Witherspoon’s poster is one of a number that are going up in driver’s license offices throughout the state,” Elam said. “I know in my district, we’ve put others up at Trenton, Paris and Savannah.

“More than 90 percent of our donors come from having volunteered by checking the donor box on the back of their license.”

Elam said it’s important to have as many donors as possible, because donations have to come from very specific circumstances.

“Because a lot of the organs have a short shelf life of only a few hours, donations have to be made from someone who – when they pass, they have to be in a surgical environment so the organs or tissue can be removed quickly and safely for the organ itself and the person who needs that organ.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news