Life is the Best gift you can give.

Life is the best gift you can give. It’s why we help educate South Africans about organ and tissue donation. TELL (Transplant Education for Living Legacies) was created with heart for hearts (and other organs). Two of the three founders received lifesaving lung transplants which not only gave them a second chance at life but also put them in the unique position to make a difference in the transplant community. Through years of working in the field, various barriers to organ transplantation have been identified and TELL is on a mission to solve as many of these problems as possible.

Life is the Best gift you can give.

01

MISSION

Our mission is to end the waiting list by providing transplant education to both the general public and medical sectors.

02

VISION

With your help, our vision is for all South Africans to not only understand organ donation but to support and embrace it fully.

03

BELIEF

We believe that education is the answer to the organ donation problem in South Africa, and once we empower people they will make an informed decision to become an organ and tissue donor.

“TELL continues to do wonderful work in promoting transplantation and organ donation in South Africa. As an organisation, they have promoted organ donation, and provides invaluable support to both patients and transplant clinicians in the field.”

Dr Francisca van der Schyff

Transplant Surgeon

WITS DONALD GORDON MEDICAL CENTRE

Organ and Tissue Donation in South Africa

South Africa has an opt-in system for organ and tissue donation that means that the family needs to give consent to donation regardless if the person is a registered organ donor or if it is stated in their will. One of the factors that influence the low rate of organ and tissue donation in South Africa is the low referral rate of potential donors. Some hospitals do have a mandatory referral policy for potential donors to the transplant coordinator. The transplant coordinator is really in the best position to discuss organ and tissue donation with the family, they know how to act as grief counselors and assist the medical personnel in managing the potential donor. The attitude of the medical personnel does play a role in the families consent towards organ and tissue donation, they are seen as a source of reliable information on the topic. Therefore medical staff play a very important role in improving the referral rate and donation rate.

In order for an organ transplant to take place, you need a donor that is declared brain-dead in hospital, a transplant coordinator that is alerted timeously by the healthcare staff and the donor’s family that gives consent for organ and tissue donation. The transplant process is highly regulated and strict criteria concerning the dead donor rule and informed consent need to be adhered to.

The problem is that when families are asked for consent, they decline as they do not know what the deceased person would have wanted or it is the first time that they have the discussion about organ donation in a very stressful and emotional environment. This is why it is important to have the conversation about organ and tissue donation today, so that when you have to make a decision it will be easier and most families give consent if they know what the donor’s wishes were.

Let’s start the conversation!