The “Tree of Life” at the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital grew significantly this year thanks to the life saving decision of 23 donors.
In celebration of BeADonor Month, STEGH is recognizing the 21 tissue donors and two organ donors at the hospital by adding one leaf for each donation that took place between March and December 2022.
“Our goal for this month is to recognize the incredible decision donors and their families have made at a very difficult time. This leads to thousands of lives being saved,” says Dr. Fahad Sheikh, Intensivist and Physician Lead, Organ and Tissue Donation at STEGH. “I encourage everyone to consider organ and tissue donation.”
Thanks to the new additions, over 125 handcrafted leaves are now proudly displayed on the Tree of Life.
The 3-dimensional tree is located on the wall of the second floor of the “Hallway of Heroes”, which connects the Intensive Care Unit and the Surgical Suites at STEGH.
STEGH reminds the community that although more than 85 per cent of people in Ontario are in favour of organ donation, only one in three Ontarians have registered to be a donor.
One organ donor can save up to eight lives and you can take the two minutes to register at BeADonor.ca.
More details on Be A Donor month can be found in our previous story here.
Written by: K. Freeman
