Bend Organ Recipient Applauds Facebook Move

Facebook joins forces with Donate Life America and adds a new feature to users profiles. It’s a chance to show friends who is an organ donor, and how to become one. On Wednesday, a Bend heart and kidney transplant recipient said he’s backing the idea.

“I had to go on a balloon pump, and by that time, the left side of my heart was completely gone,” Todd Ainsworth “They said I probably wouldn’t survive the wait for a transplant.”

About a year ago Ainsworth was full of tubes and bandages, but he was alive. Ainsworth said he considers himself a lucky man.

“Of course you say, ‘You know if this doesn’t happen, I’m going to be gone in three weeks,'” said Ainsworth.

Ainsworth suffered from heart complications for years. He had two cardiac arrests and was bumped to the top of the waiting list, hoping his match was out there.

“My donor unfortunately died in Seattle, I think it was June 1, 2011 — last year,” Ainsworth said. “I got his heart and his kidney.”

Now that he’s healthy again, Ainsworth said he is pleased to see that owner of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has added an organ donor feature to profiles. And many organizations are thrilled too.

“We are so excited,” Mary Jane Hunt, executive director of Donate Life Northwest. “We just can’t keep ourselves from jumping up and down. It’s so important, because now we have this opportunity to reach millions and millions of people.”

To add the organ status to Facebook profiles, users can go to their Timelines, click on “life event,” “health and wellness” and then “organ donor.” People can add stories, and then it will be published in the news feed.

If people are not organ donors and they wish to register, there is a link to Donate Life America. People can choose a state and fill in the information.

“Having this opportunity on Facebook, having it more mainstream, having it in a relevant place for people to learn about it — especially young people — just makes a lot of sense,” Hunt said.

Over 114,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant. In Oregon, 900 people are waiting. But in the first 24 hours after Facebook added the feature, donors skyrocketed about 700 percent.

While the number of potential organ donors continues to climb, Ainsworth is hoping others who are suffering may find their match.

“You know, I carry around a part of him,” Ainsworth said. “I haven’t had a chance to meet my donor’s family. They’re checking on that, OHSU folks are. I hope to be able to meet them at some point. I know there’s a story there, I just don’t know what it is.”