Tissue Donation

With the gift of tissue donation for transplant your loved one can save and heal up to 125 lives.












  • AORTOILIAC ARTERY
    The aortoiliac artery is one of the major arteries below the heart and can help patients who have infections after bypass surgery.
    BONE
    Bone grafts can help those in need of hip, back or neck surgery to regain mobility and decrease pain. Connective tissues and tendons can also help individuals with sports related injuries.
    CORNEAS & EYES
    Corneas can restore the gift of sight in up to 2 people. Eye tissue can help patients who need glaucoma surgery
    SKIN
    Skin grafts can help save lives of burn patients or help women with breast cancer who need reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy.
    HEART VALVES & PERICARDIUM
    Heart valves can restore heart function and repair defects.
    Pericardium is the soft tissue surrounding the heart and can help patients who have open-heart surgery or need dental surgery.
    BLOOD VESSELS
    Veins and arteries can help restore circulation with bypass surgery and control infection in dialysis patients.
    RIBS & CARTILAGE
    Ribs and cartilage can help trauma and cancer patients with reconstructive surgeries.


When does tissue recovery take place?
Tissue recovery is different than organ recovery in which organs must be recovered at time of cardiac death, whereas tissue recovery can take place up to 24 hours after the death occurs.

“My loved one is too sick or too old to be a donor”
Do not rule your loved one out for donation. Our family care coordinators are knowledgeable in donation criteria will evaluate every potential donor carefully to ensure the gift is safe for transplant. In addition to medical chart review and testing, we also complete a medical and social history questionnaire with every family and will let the family know if their loved one is a candidate to donate or not.

Why do we call so soon or late into the night?
Donation is time sensitive and there is only a small window of time that someone can donate for transplant. We want to give the family the most amount of time possible to notify other family members about the life saving opportunity for their loved one before it’s too late. The sooner the donation paperwork can be completed with the family the better chance that the gift will be recovered in time and ultimately transplanted to a recipient.

Who gives us our accreditation and regulates us?
OneLegacy is regulated by the FDA and we receive our accreditation from the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) & Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA). We are the primary contact for all our partnering hospitals, coroner offices, and funeral homes in our 7-county southern California donorservice area and we work together to help make donation for transplant a reality for our community.

What if my loved one did not mention donation?
It is common that many people do not discuss donation with family or that they registered to be a donor through the DMV. It is our role to explain donation so that every family we speak to is given the opportunity to save and heal lives or for registered donors help the family honor their loved one’s wish to donate.

How does tissue donation impact the funeral viewing and arrangements?
Tissue recovery is performed like a surgical procedure by our trained surgical team. It is done in a timely manner with the upmost care and respect and does NOT affect your ability to have an open casket with a viewing if that is your family’s wish. The family can still move forward with their funeral arrangements as planned after the tissue recovery has taken place.

What if the tissue is not able to be used for transplant?
Transplant is always our top priority. However, tissue that is deemed not able to be used for transplant can still be a part of the donation story. Tissue can still be used by medical professionals for research, training, or educational purpose via learning procedure would allow them to repeat the operation to help save countless lives. This is knowledge that could not be gained any other way.