GIVING GENEROUSLY

THE Bellarine has more than 16,500 people now registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

New figures – released ahead of DonateLife Week (July 28-August 4) – shows that the region received more than 650 new registrations last year.

Bellarine locals are signing up to become potential life savers at a fast pace, joining a state-wide push to increase rates of organ and tissue donor registrations.

The highest total registrations on the Bellarine is Ocean Grove, with 4,539 (and 202 new registrations in 2018) and Drysdale, with 3,958 (152 new).

Leopold had 3,111 (139 new), Portarlington, Indented Head and St Leonards had 1,884 (62 new), Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale had 1551 (38 new), and Barwon Heads 1,468 (61 new).

DonateLife Victoria State Medical Director Dr Rohit D’Costa thanked Bellarine locals for joining the Australian Organ Donor Register and encouraged all Victorians to follow their lead.

Last year in Victoria, a record 193 donors and their families made the selfless decision to donate organs – saving the lives of 529 people.

This compared to 148 donors in 2017, when 387 people received a life-saving transplant. For more,