The Transplant Waiting List is Long — Even Though More Americans Embrace Organ Donation

In those excruciating minutes and hours after learning their 16-year-old son had died in an automobile accident, Darren and Stephanie Grubb had the strength and presence of mind to think about others.

They thought about what a great kid Logan was. How he was always lending a hand to his friends.

They thought about making something good come out of unthinkable tragedy.

Between their tears, Darren and Stephanie gave hospital officials in North Carolina permission to donate any viable organs or tissue from Logan to others.

“We are faithful people. We believe in God. We’ve tried to think of others before ourselves and we tried to instill that in our kids,” says Stephanie. “Logan was a very generous kid. We found out later that he would give his friends rides all of the time and buy them meals if they went out and didn’t have any money. We heard from cafeteria workers that he would pay for friends’ lunches at school.

“We just knew donating was the right thing to do. We had lost our son, but if someone else could live and have quality of life, he would have wanted that, too.”

Today, the Yulee couple are among dozens of volunteers for Donate Life Florida who work to educate their communities about the precious gift of life. April is National Donate Life Month around the United States. Various activities around the country are scheduled this month to encourage Americans to register as donors and discuss their intentions with family members.

“About 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting — sick, but hopeful that someone may say yes to donation,” says Jessica Scheidler Grossberg, a public education coordinator with LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services.

More than 170 million people have registered as organ or tissue donors; however, about 20 people die each day awaiting a transplant, Grossberg says. About 6,000 Floridians are on organ transplant waiting lists. Not everyone who registers as a donor is able to donate. In fact, only 3 in 1,000 people die in a way that allows for “deceased organ donation.” That’s why more willing donors are needed.

With medical and technological improvements, more donated organs and tissue can be used today, so the number of transplant surgeries in the United States is rising, she says. As many as eight organs can be donated, as well as the corneas and other tissue.

“There are a lot of factors that go into the increase in transplants,” Grossberg says. “More people are educated about organ donation. And if people are educated about it, they say yes to donation. Also, the technology is better. A heart on a machine (during transport from the donating hospital to the recipient’s hospital) can survive 10 hours now, instead of five or six. That makes a huge difference.”

But many Americans have not registered as donors, and families often refuse a request to donate their loved ones’ organs or tissue, she says.

“It’s a slow-moving needle, both nationally and statewide,” Grossberg says of the nation’s embrace of organ donation. “There are so many misconceptions that limit people from registering or donating.”

Anyone 18 and older registered as an organ donor can be reassured that their wishes will be carried out, if death occurs in a manner that allows for transplantation. Organ donation requires brain death, in which the individual is kept alive on machines but cannot otherwise survive. Donation of certain tissues, such as corneas and skin, can often be carried out after brain death, which is called deceased organ donation.

Darren and Stephanie Grubb don’t know if their son was registered as a donor. The family was living in North Carolina in 2019 when Logan had a fatal, single-car accident on his way home from work one summer morning.

“He was coming home from work that day and hit a tree,” Stephanie says. “He was a young, active, vibrant teenager. He was working in the summer. He was going into junior year of high school, playing football and basketball. He had his life ahead him, or so it seemed.”

The Grubb family gave hope and life to others that day. Four skin grafts were created, two vein grafts, an artery graft and two heart valve grafts.

“Both of Logan’s corneas were able to be transplanted to recipients in need,” Darren says. “One cornea was transplanted to a 79-year-old male in Texas.  His other cornea was transplanted to a 49-year-old male in Texas. Cornea transplant has the potential to restore sight for these two grateful recipients! Logan was also a tissue donor and will therefore be able to heal and enhance the lives of possibly over 75 people.”  

The family’s generosity didn’t end there. The family became involved with Donate Life North Carolina, an organization that works to raise awareness on organ donation. After moving to Nassau County five years ago, they began to volunteer with Donate Life Florida. Darren is a retired member of the U.S. Coast Guard. Stephanie teaches elementary school at Hardee Elementary in Fernandina Beach. They attend health fairs and other events to share their experience with others.

“Once we started doing volunteer work, we learned there are a lot of people who have no idea about Donate Life,” Daren says. “It’s nice to talk to them about donating. It’s been good for us.”

Their daughter, Erica, 20, has also volunteered and even received a scholarship that recognized her contribution.

Many myths and misconceptions linger about organ donation, despite decades of medical advances, Grossberg says.

“The misconception the biggest I hear is ‘whether doctors and nurses save my life?’” if someone who is registered as an organ donor is brought into an emergency room with serious injuries, Grossberg says. “They absolutely will. Medical professionals don’t go into that line of work to kill people and take their organs. If you are getting wheeled into the ER, they are not trying to find your ID, they are trying to save your life.”

Moreover, your wishes can be private. Information on the donor registry is private, and you can opt out of having the tiny heart sticker affixed to your driver’s license even if you want to be listed in the organ donation registry.

Both young people and older individuals are often confused about donation. Teenagers getting their first driver’s license are often caught off guard by the question of whether to be listed as an organ donor on their license, Grossberg says. And oftentimes senior citizens think they are too old to donate. There is no age limit to donation. In June 2024, a man who died at a University of Florida, Gainesville, health facility became the oldest ever donor at age 98, Grossberg says.

“There is only a 1% chance you’ll die in a way to donate your organs,” Grossberg says. “One percent seems tiny. But you have the chance to save up to 100 people’s lives in one day.”

The gift of life is also healing for families who choose to donate, Jennifer says.

“It is the most difficult thing that we ever had to do — to make that kind of decision,” Jennifer says. “But the reality is knowing that other people have the opportunity to live or to be healthier. There is so much good in the midst of the pain and hurt. There will be joy afterward knowing there is hope for someone else.”

Florida residents can register to be an organ donor at Donate Life Florida or at the local Department of Motor Vehicles office. You can make your intentions known by adding the information to the Health app on your smartphone