Three million and counting… That's the number of Californians who have signed up on the state's organ donor registry. Governor Schwarzenegger praised that milestone Wednesday.
Schwarzenegger: Our goal is to sign up 15-million donors by the year 2011 and I know that everyone here believes 100-percent that we will exceed this number because California has the most compassionate and generous people anywhere.
Republican Assemblywoman Sharon Runner joined the Governor as well as organ donor families and recipients for a celebration at the Capitol. Runner recently revealed that she suffers from a chronic ailment that is destroying her lungs.
Runner: At first I thought I was being selfish in asking others to sign up for organ donation because I need lungs myself, but then I learned in California alone there are 20,000 people waiting for organs."
The Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry credits its partnership with the DMV in 2006 with a rapid increase in sign-ups. The registry first started just as a website in 2005.
