Organ donation Coverage

April is Donate Life Month: 5 facts about organ donation

April is National Donate Life Month - a time to raise awareness about organ donation and encourage Americans to register as donors. Right now, there are more than 103,000 men, women and children on the national transplant waiting list.

Striking the right chord: How a kidney transplant changed a local musician's life

Jason Adamo was making pasta in the kitchen for his kids, when he received the call of a lifetime. He got a kidney donor.

Daniela Cazares, 2024 CBC-UNC Diversity Fellow

More people need transplants than there are organ donors. Pigs might be a solution

The need for more transplant organs is immense and growing. Some scientists think animal organs might be a good way to increase the supply.

By Jen Christensen, CNN

Plea for kidney donors to help Raleigh man and others in need

A Raleigh couple is now desperately seeking a kidney donation for themselves or anyone else who needs it.

Raleigh man needs another kidney donor, makes plea for others with the same need

A Raleigh couple is now desperately seeking a kidney donation for themselves or anyone else who needs it.

A daughter's gift: A kidney for dad

Lauren Herlihy put her faith in the power of medicine and became a living donor for her father.

'Gift from my daughter:' UNC nurse practitioner donates organ to save father's life

A nurse practitioner at UNC recently donated a kidney to save her father's life.

Destinee Patterson, WRAL multimedia journalist

U.S. organ transplant system, troubled by long wait times, faces an overhaul

WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it would seek to break up the network that has long run the nation's organ transplant system as part of a broader modernization effort intended to shorten wait times, address racial inequities and reduce the number of patients who die while waiting.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times

Widower of WRAL News employee meets beneficiary of her organ donation

Tears and hugs were almost guaranteed when Ed Simanskis met the young woman who got new life from the donation of his wife's kidney.

'Fantastic, emotional:' Organ recipient, widower of WRAL employee meet

In January 2022, WRAL News Assignment Editor Erin Simanskis, died after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver during a snow storm on Western Boulevard. A year later, Simanskis' family got to meet the young woman who got the gift of life from that death, the recipient of one of her organs.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

WRAL-TV employee killed in hit-and-run gave gift of live to others through organ donation

In the United States, about 60% of the population is registered to be organ donors. But only 54% of North Carolinians are registered.

'We knew it was the right thing to do.' Organs donated by WRAL employee killed in hit-and-run saved lives

In the United States, about 60% of the population is registered to be organ donors. But only 54% of North Carolinians are registered. Yet there are more than 100,000 people waiting for organs across the U.S. with 3,000 in North Carolina.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

'We lost a very special person:' Community mourning after Nash teen dies from being shocked by active power line

A community is mourning after a 16-year-old was electrocuted while stepping out of her car following a crash with a power pole.

Aaron Thomas, WRAL reporter

Community mourns teen who died following crash with power pole

A community is mourning after a 16-year-old was shocked while stepping out of her car following a crash with a power pole.

'His heart never stopped:' NCSU student saves life; recipient spreads kindness in his memory

Sometimes a terrible tragedy can lead to acts of kindness beyond anything we could imagine.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

'I can't help him again.' Charlotte man loses recently transplanted kidney in crash

A Charlotte man thought his health was turning around after he received a kidney from his wife. But he lost the organ in a car accident on the way home from the hospital.

WSOC staff

Teenager killed in Franklin Co. crash will save others through organ donation

Franklin County is mourning the loss of a teen who was involved in a bad car crash earlier this month. Her family decided she would give the gift of life to others.

16-year-old killed in Franklin County crash saves lives with organ donation

Franklin County is mourning the loss of a teen who was involved in a bad car crash earlier this month. Her family decided she would give the gift of life to others.

Leslie Moreno, WRAL reporter

12-year-old Roanoke Rapids boy saves 5 lives by donating organs after dying from heart condition

12-year-old Jojo Fahey collapsed on the playground at school in Roanoke Rapids this month, going into cardiac arrest from a lifelong heart condition. He died on Thursday.

12-year-old Roanoke Rapids boy who died from heart condition saves 5 lives as an organ donor

Family members are mourning the loss of a 12-year-old boy who died after collapsing at school in Roanoke Rapids.

Keenan Willard, WRAL eastern North Carolina reporter

NC man whose daughter got heart transplant wanted to be organ donor

A local family hopes their own experience will inspire others to give back and maybe even save a life.

NC man who received double lung transplant now donating organs to others

A local family hopes their own experience will inspire others to give back and maybe even save a life.

Leslie Moreno, WRAL multimedia journalist

14-year-old gets donor heart using new technolgy

A Duke pediatric patient and her family are celebrating a second chance at life, and her transplant surgery offers hope for many children who may one day face the same need.

New organ preservation technology offers hope for young transplant candidates

A Duke pediatric patient and her family are celebrating a second chance at life, and her transplant surgery offers hope for many children who may one day face the same need.

Rick Armstrong, WRAL photojournalist

Parents of man killed in head-on crash say he'll live on through organ donation

Peter Drago did not fulfill every dream he had on earth, but his family says he's a hero with his tissue donation.

Rosalia Fodera, WRAL reporter