BIDDEFORD, Maine — Valentine’s Day is not only a day for feelings in the heart. For many, it’s about very real hearts, too.
Feb. 14 is National Donor Day. More than 100,000 patients are currently on a transplant list in the U.S. Organ recipients got together in Biddeford on Monday to tell their stories of survival and appreciation, and to urge Mainers to sign up to be a potential donor.
Multiple speakers, like Rick Griffin, said they or their loved ones were within days or hours of dying before doctors found a match.
"The miracle happened on what I call the day I was scheduled to die," Griffin said. "There was a match found … I’m forever grateful to him and his family for being organ donors because their loss saved my life. I say thanks and a prayer for them every single day."
More than 700,000 Maine ID or driver’s license holders are organ donors— well over 50 percent of total card holders.
You can sign up to be an organ donor the next time you renew your license, or any time online at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles website or the Donate Life New England website.