(Pictured above: Natalie Walton with a portrait of her husband, Rodney, an organ donor.)

An organ donation can save up to eight lives.

As Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System works to heal the community with our Donate Life SC partnership, organ donation can be an important part of that process.

For patients suffering from a medical condition, a new organ can enhance or save their life. Spartanburg Medical Center receives organs from organ donor patients who want to help others live a more fruitful life.

Organ donation is the process of giving an organ, or part of an organ, for the purpose of a transplantation into another person.

Here's what you should know about organ donation

• More than 123,000 people in the United States are waiting for a life-saving transplant
• Approximately 900 people living in South Carolina are waiting for an organ transplant.
• Every 10 minutes another person is added to the transplant list
• An average of 22 people will die each day nationwide for receiving an organ transplant.
• If you are sick or injured, the first priority of medical personnel is to save your life. Organ, eye and tissue donation can only be considered after you are declared dead.
• Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, race, or past medical history.
• Only after all efforts to save the patient's life have been exhausted, tests are performed to confirm the absence of brain or brain stem activity, and brain death has been declared, is donation a possibility.

Share the gift of life, hope and generosity by becoming an organ donor today. Visit www.DonateLifeSC.org to sign up.  

Learn more about organ donation.