“Tree of Life” grows as 23 leaves are added in honour of organ and tissue donation at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital

Published On: April 6, 2022

St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital (STEGH) is proud to announce the addition of 23 donor leaves to its “Tree of Life”, honouring organ and tissue donation at STEGH.

In celebration of BeADonor Month, the hospital is recognizing 21 tissue donors and two organ donors at STEGH by adding one leaf for each donation. The donations took place between March and December 2021.

“Our goal for this month is to recognize the incredible decision donors and their families have made at a very difficult time. This leads to thousands of lives being saved,” says Dr. Fahad Sheikh, Intensivist and Trillium Gift of Life Physician Lead at STEGH. “I encourage everyone to consider organ and tissue donation.”

There are now over 100 handcrafted leaves proudly displayed on the Tree of Life, which is located just outside of the Intensive Care Unit in the Hallway of Heroes.

Although more than 85 per cent of people in Ontario are in favour of organ donation, only one in three Ontarians have registered to be a donor. One organ donor can save up to eight lives. It only takes two minutes to register… BeADonor.ca