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In California, there are 10,000 people on the waiting list. In San Diego, 1,600 patients are currently awaiting organ transplants. According to 10News, some have been waiting years and their time is running out.
They are mothers, fathers, sons and daughters . even babies.
10News followed three San Diegans who are waiting for a donated organ; their survival depends on it.
It's desperation only the people who need organs know. People like Caroline Forman-Lines (pictured, right), a young mother of three.
Forman-Lines, 33, is being kept alive by a heart pump while she waits for a new heart. She was the picture of health six months ago until she felt chest pains.
"Caroline was struck by lightning, literally" said her cardiologist, Dr. Brian Jaski.
Forman-Line's heart was falling apart, a rare condition that may be linked to high estrogen levels, 10News reported.
"I feel very lucky I survived it because I died five times," she said.
Now, Forman-Lines waits and prays for a new heart.
"My three children are depending on me in my life to be there," she told 10News.
Wayne Schulenburg is also waiting. He continues to care for exotic birds at the San Diego Zoo while he waits for a new kidney and pancreas.
Schulenburg told 10News that he's on a beeper. "It could happen at any moment," he said.
Schulenburg's kidneys are failing because of diabetes. He survives by undergoing dialysis three times a week.
"I've been on dialysis a little more than a year," Schulenburg said.
His doctor hopes a donor organ becomes available soon.
"The mortality of diabetics can be very high so we want to transplant him as quickly as possible," Dr. Sarbani Bhaduri told 10News.
And then there's Myra Souza, a 16-year-old high school student who needs a kidney transplant to survive.
"I used to love dancing. I still do, but I can't do it," Souza said.
On average, children have to wait a year until a donor organ becomes available, 10News reported.
"One year in a life of a young child is a pretty significant period of time," explained Myra's physician, Dr. Jacques Lemire.
Like Schulenburg, Myra is also kept alive by kidney dialysis.
Myra, however, is one of the lucky ones. She may not to have to undergo dialysis much longer because her father's kidney is a match.
"He says, with all his heart, he gives it to me," she told 10News.
"I know she has to stay hooked to machine three times a week, but we hope with a transplant everything is going to be better," Cesar Souza told 10News.
In a few weeks, Myra is expected to undergo a kidney transplant.
Every 16 minutes in the United States, a new person is added to the waiting list. And every day, 10 to 12 people die because an organ is not available, 10News reported.
Lifesharing, a community organ and tissue donation organization, said it is important family members know people's wishes about donating organs.
"It is our hope that families have talked about this at the dinner table, in their church, in their schools, so when faced with that decision to be a donor, families will support it by saying yes," said Rudolph Morgan of Lifesharing.
How can you give the gift of life?
According to Lifesharing, it takes four easy steps to become a donor:
Signing a donor card signifies your commitment to renewing the life and health of others in need. Telling your family is the way to become a donor. It is much easier for families to make a decision to donate before they face a crisis.
According to Lifesharing, in the event of your death, your family will be asked what your wishes are. If organ or tissue donation is a possibility they must give the final consent to donate.
Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! and KGTV TheSanDiegoChannel.com.
This article posted January 1, 2002.