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Americans Respond to “Extreme Makeover” Episode by Increasing Donor Pledges

In all parts of the country, Americans responded in unusual numbers to a recent ABC episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition by signing up to be organ donors.

The show, which aired on March 11, told the compelling story of the Tipton-Smith family of Waleska, Ga. – mother Faith Tipton-Smith, son Ransom, and daughters Missy and Emily. After their small home burned to the ground, the family had begun to rebuild when a second tragedy occurred – the death of Ransom in a car accident.

Faith’s decision to donate Ransom’s organs during a period when the family was sleeping on mattresses on a bare floor caught the attention of the show’s producers, who determined to build the family their dream house.

Each Extreme Makeover episode features a deserving family whose homes are totally rebuilt in just seven days by a team of designers, contractors and workers who suddenly descend on the site.

LifeLink Foundation of Georgia, the regional organ procurement organization (OPO), worked closely with ABC on the show, which included an emotional on-air meeting between the Tipton-Smith family and the 21-year-old female college student who received Ransom’s heart.

Nationally, OPO officials reported an outpouring of registrations after the show aired:

• In California, total online donor registrations for the five Sundays preceding the show together totaled 373. By contrast, registrations on March 11, the day the show aired, totaled 327 – an increase of 338 percent over an average Sunday.
  
  
• Michigan’s daily average of 30 to 40 online sign-ups soared to 187 on March 11 and 208 on March 12.
  
  
• New York’s daily registrations hit 157 on March 11 and 129 on March 12, up from as many as 20 on an average day.
  
  
• Oklahoma, which averages three or four registrations a week, mostly through their Department of Motor Vehicles, had 53 registrations on March 11 and 12.
  
  
• Ohio’s on-line registration system received 1,238 hits on March 11, compared to 150 hits on an average Sunday.

“Stories like this make it clear that Americans care about organ donation and are willing to help,” said Joyce Somsak, HRSA’s Associate Administrator for Healthcare Systems, which oversees the Division of Transplantation. “These stories move and inspire us, but they also motivate us to reach out with the message that people can save lives by taking action to be a donor.”

To find out how you can make a difference, go to organdonor.gov

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