With over 80,000 people awaiting a life-saving organ transplant, the need to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation is increasing. Ohio State has taken the step of educating the college public about this issue.

A video targeted at college students is being produced to educate the OSU student body about the need for organ and tissue donors.

“I couldn’t find any literature on donation for college students, so I wrote the grant for a video,” said June Hinkle, program manager for bereavement services at OSU hospitals and a registered nurse.

The video, which runs between 20 and 25 minutes, is focused on “dispelling myths and presenting the facts,” said Stacey Baker, education resource specialist at OSU hospitals.

The video also features personal testimonies from both transplant recipients and donor families.

“It is important to use (the video) to eliminate the myth that medical care is compensated when someone is an organ donor,” Hinkle said. “So much happens before your organs are donated, and we don’t even know you are a donor until after you are dead.”

The video also focuses on educating the public about the new Ohio Donor Registry, a piece of legislation adopted in July allowing people to register to donate when getting or renewing their driver’s license or state identification at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Baker said.

Baker hopes the video will reach at least 2,000 students at Ohio State.

“We hope to get this video widespread. Our ultimate goal is to get the video into the freshmen seminar courses,” she said. “We want to show it to student groups, including fraternities and sororities.”

Baker also said students will be trained on how to present, the first group of students being Ohio State Health Sciences scholars.

The video was funded by the Second Chance Trust Fund, a fund developed from the optional $1 donation to education about organ and tissue donation at the BMV.

Chris Dickman, a senior in English, tells his personal story about being a heart recipient in the video.

“After my heart transplant I was finally able to do things I have never been able to, like play hockey,” Dickman said. “I’m one of the lucky ones.”