Tour de Life Bike Ride encourages organ donations

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI)- Over 13-hundred Mississippians are in need of lifesaving organ transports according to the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency

The third annual Tour de Life Bike Ride in Tupelo promoted the need for organ, eye and tissue donations.

The event was sponsored by North Mississippi Medical Center and MORA.

MORA is one of the 58 federally designated organ procurement organizations in the country and is the official organ recovery agency in the state.

Chuck Stinson is Director of Community Services and Relations for MORA.

He says it is very important for people to understand the importance of organ donation.

“What we want to do is we want to educate people on the opportunity because there’s always the possibility that your loved one would need an organ or you might need an organ transplant as well. And so we want to relay that message to people. What would you do if some in your family need or yourself needed? Where would expect that organ to come from,” said Stinson.

Stinson says you can save up to eight lives by becoming an organ, eye, or tissue donator.

He says 114-thousand people need transplants across the country and a new person goes on the list every ten minutes.

Unfortunately, Stinson says 20 people die every day waiting for a transplant.