This idea to save lives was born of frustration.

Back in 2010, many University of Michigan Health System Transplant Center patients waited and waited for organs to become available. But only 27 percent of Michigan adults were on the State of Michigan Organ Donor Registry, says Anne Murphy, administrative director with the center.

“It’s painful to watch people die waiting,” Murphy says.

The situation sparked an idea: What if several community groups, dedicated to saving patients in need of a range of medical support, could band together under one banner to build awareness and boost the number of patients saved?

The banner they created is Wolverines For Life, a collaboration among UMHS, Michigan Athletics and other U-M groups, schools and departments. Joining the effort are the American Red Cross, Be the Match/National Marrow Donor Program, Gift of Life Michigan and Eversight Michigan (formerly the Michigan Eye-Bank).

Today, 53 percent of state adults are registered donors — roughly double the 2010 percentage.

The key public event promoting medical donations is the annual “Be a Hero at the Big House” on Nov. 1 at Michigan Stadium.

It is designed to spark participation in the annual fall challenges between U-M and The Ohio State University — the Blood Battle and the Marrow Matchup. Each school tries to best the other in collecting blood donations, donor sign-ups and registrations to the Be the Match bone marrow registry, before their football teams meet Nov. 28 at Michigan Stadium.

Regent Mark Bernstein has contributed as a bone marrow donor. He says one of the goals of publicizing life-saving donations is to show how easy it is to participate.

“There are very few opportunities in life to save another person’s life, and this is one of them. The bone marrow transplant process proves that an ordinary experience can produce an extraordinary impact on another person’s life,” he says. Bernstein says that when more are registered, more lives are saved.

While the Wolverines For Life collaboration has played a significant role in promoting donor sign-ups, Holly Eliot, Transplant Center project manager for Wolverines for Life, says much credit is due to Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson for also promoting sign-ups to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

Every day, 18 people die while waiting for an organ transplant, 77 people receive an organ transplant and another 138 people are added to the national waiting list, according to Wolverines for Life. A single organ and tissue donor can save eight lives and help up to 50 people.

“The real benefit of Wolverines for Life is being able to combine resources to make more of an impact. We also have many student groups involved and there’s a medical school chapter. There’s a passion on our campus for promoting these efforts,” Murphy says.

Grateful for donors’ help

Among those whose families have benefitted from medical donors is William H. McNitt of Ann Arbor, a U-M alumnus and retired Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library archivist. His wife, Marilyn, fought an ultimately unsuccessful battle against acute myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer.

“Marilyn and our entire family were appreciative of the many donors who provided red blood cells and platelets for the 113 transfusions she received and the work of the American Red Cross in collecting and making available those donations,” he says.

Through the bone marrow registry, her doctors were able to identify a match for a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant. But her leukemia dropped out of remission before they were able to proceed, McNitt says.

“Before she died, Marilyn asked our daughters, Sarah and Rebecca, and I to support the work of American Red Cross blood services and also the efforts of Be the Match to sign up more people for the bone marrow registry,” he says, adding the family also supports Wolverines for Life.

Harry Lucas, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from U-M in 1982, says he became involved in the transplant community as a donor dad in November 2011. That was when his daughter April, a 23-year-old Central Michigan University student working on her master’s degree, died of an aneurysm. Lucas says she saved four lives through medical donations.

“My message to all is to sign up on the Donor Registry now,” says Lucas, who today is Michigan Donor Family Council president.

Heroes wanted

“Be a Hero at the Big House” is from 8 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Jack Roth Stadium Club at Michigan Stadium. It is the kick-off event for the annual Blood Battle with Ohio State.

It is also an all-day drive to register bone marrow donors with Be the Match, and to register organ, tissue and eye donors with Gift of Life and Eversight Michigan. People who visit the drives will be entered into a raffle for sports mementos. Wolverines for Life will also give away free T-shirts. There are also prizes for blood donors.

There will be free parking and kids’ game areas. To sign up and credit U-M with your organ donor registration, go to wolverinesforlife.org, click on the Gift of Life button to become a donor and sign up for U-M. Those who sign up receive in the mail a red heart to affix to their driver’s license signifying them as an organ donor.

Tags:

• organ donation
• Wolverines for Life