ABC 7: Healthcare Workers at Cedars-Sinai and Transplant Recipients Honor Donate Life Month

ABC 7 and the Beverly Press/Park Labrea News recently interviewed Nicholas Nissen, MD, surgical director of the Liver Transplant Program at Cedars-Sinai, and Dechu Puliyanda, MD, director of Pediatric Nephrology at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s, about the importance of organ donations during a recent event held at the medical center to commemorate Donate Life Month.

Nissen told ABC 7 news reporter Ashley Mackey that organ donors should be recognized for contributing the ultimate gift of life.

“Organs are life, and every organ that’s donated saves a life,” Nissen told Mackey. “A single donor can save seven lives, so it’s an absolutely incredible day and a celebration, really, of life.”

The Comprehensive Transplant Center and Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai set an internal record in 2023 for the most solid organ transplants ever performed at the medical center: more than 650. Patients also experienced excellent outcomes, with more than 91% surviving at least one year after transplantation.

Puliyanda told the Beverly Press/Park Labrea News people should encourage relatives to consider organ donation.

“Do not take your organs to heaven,” Puliyanda said. “Heaven knows [we] need them here. So, sign your organ donor card and tell your next of kin, ‘Go organ donate.’”

Cedars-Sinai heart transplant recipient Richard Aidem, who spoke at the event, thanked his physicians for helping extend his life.

“There’s so many people at Cedars that helped me … They were all the nicest people, it’s unbelievable,” Aidem told the Beverly Press/Park Labrea News. “Anyone that’s involved with [transplants], thank you.”

Click here to watch the segment on ABC 7 and here to read the complete article in the Beverly Press/Park Labrea News.