Advocating for organ donation registration hits home for UW-Madison sophomore Curtiss Engstrom, who received a kidney from his mother when he was 18 years old.
Now, Engstrom, as well as the statewide collaboration Donate Life Wisconsin, is urging people to become organ donors, as April is National Donate Life Month.
The Wisconsin branch of Donate Life America strives to “help students combat the misconceptions that surround organ and tissue donation,” according to Sydney Kelly, a member of the group.
“Our goal is to create a culture for organ donation on the UW-Madison campus and to spread awareness on the importance of organ donation and the far-reaching impact it can have,” Kelly said.
Engstrom, now a sophomore at UW-Madison, also advocates for organ donation awareness. He said his firsthand experience inspired him to work toward getting people to understand the importance and ease of becoming an organ donor.
Like Donate Life Wisconsin, his goal is to spread factual information when it comes to signing up as an organ donor.
“When you sign up to be a donor when receiving or renewing a driver’s license, all it means is that if you die, your organs will be used for donation,” Engstrom said. “It’s not that you’re signing up to be a donor right there on the spot. Some people are hesitant to become a donor, even though all it means is that you can save lives once yours is over.”
Donate Life Wisconsin is planning on holding numerous events on campus throughout April in recognition of National Donate Life Month. This includes a table at Relay for Life with activities facilitated by the group April 7.
Engstrom said he believes in the power that National Donate Life Month can have to save countless lives.
“The awareness month informs people of the organ failure crisis that is a very significant burden for many Americans and people everywhere,” Engstrom said. “The more awareness there is, the more people will sign up to be organ donors which, in turn, saves many lives.”
