Oklahoma organ donors reach 1.25 million

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A record number of Oklahoma residents are registered to be organ donors but officials would like to see the number go higher.<br/><br/>1.25-million of the state's 3.5-million

Tuesday, July 5th 2005, 5:57 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A record number of Oklahoma residents are registered to be organ donors but officials would like to see the number go higher.

1.25-million of the state's 3.5-million residents are registered to be vital organ, tissue or eye donors. That's up from 900,000 last year.

Robert Turner of the Life-Share Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma says having one in three Oklahomans registered to be donors is a milestone both for the donor registry and the state of Oklahoma.

The registry's 2010 goal is to have 50 percent of the state population as potential donors.

Presently, there are 553 Oklahomans on a waiting list for an organ transplant. While doctors performed 239 organ transplants in 2004, 56 Oklahomans died while waiting for an organ.