The Canadian Transplant Association is bringing back Green Shirt Day for 2020, the Lloydminster chapter among them.
The April 7th event was created in honour of Logan Boulet, a minor hockey player who passed away in the 2018 Humboldt Broncos Bus crash. Boulet had become an organ donor just prior to the accident. The event commemorates his sacrifice and raises awareness of organ donation.
To call attention to this need, people around the country and in the Border City are asked to shine a green light or wear a green shirt.
Ray Tatro , one of the board members for Lloydminster’s chapter of the CTA, says that there are approximately 5,000 people needing a transplant in Canada, and Green Shirt Day can help foster the conversation, saving lives.
“We’re trying to get more people to sign their donor cards as time goes on, and help up those people who are dying every year from want of a kidney, liver, heart, any other number of organs that are valuable.”
According to the Canadian Transplant Society, It is estimated that one organ donor can save the lives of eight people on average, and improve the lives of another 75.
Tatro says that organ donation numbers spiked after people found out Boulet had become an organ donor.
“The year Logan donated his organs, in that two month period, there were approximately 150,000 Canadians that signed or made known their wishes to donate their organs if the situation should arise that their organs are usable.”
Tatro adds that it’s extremely important for people to make their wishes known by both signing up to be an organ donor and having that conversation with their family and loved ones, making explicitly clear that they wish to donate their organs.
Residents of Alberta can sign up to be an organ donor online or when they renew their driver’s license. Saskatchewan residents must obtain a red organ donor sticker to be put on their health card and fill out an Intention to Donate form, which can be obtained by calling eHealth Saskatchewan.