Record set for Manitoba donor registry after Humboldt Bronco’s bus crash

Transplant Manitoba credits a victim of the Humboldt Boncro’s bus crash for a record number of new registrations to the province’s online donor registry.

In the week after Logan Boulet’s family shared their son’s wishes to have his organs donated, 4,587 people registered online to become organ and tissue donors.

According to Dr. Faisal Siddiqui, a physician with Transplant Manitoba, an average weekend will see about 40-100 people sign up to become donors.

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“We’re talking about a significant rise, like 400 per cent I think that adds up to,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're talking about a significant rise, like 400 per cent I think that adds up to," he said.

Siddiqui said people of all ages are signing up.

“These are people who thought ‘oh yeah, I probably want to be a donor but I’m a young person, I’m not near the end of my life, why would I even bother telling anyone?’ Now they see that it can happen to young people, it can happen to old people,” Siddiqui said.

The registry has more than 27,500 registrations. Transplant Manitoba said since its launch in 2012, the online registry has never experienced this level of traffic over such a short period of time.

The organization is hoping to build on the momentum, aiming to reach 30,000 registrations by April 30.

National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week is April 22 – 28.