‘Logan Boulet Effect’ leads to 1,800 British Columbians registering to become organ donors

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – After yesterday’s first annual Green Shirt Day, in honour of Humboldt Broncos player Logan Boulet, BC Transplant says it saw a surge in the number of people signing up to be organ donors.

“Over the weekend, we received more than 1,800 online registrations,” said Elaine Yong with the organization. “On a typical, average month, we would be looking at anywhere from about 30 to 40 — maybe on a really good month, 50 — online registrations per day.”

“In just two days, that number has just skyrocketed to 1,800. And we are anticipating that to continue, at least for the next few days, if not longer.”

Some of the paper registrations included comments like #HumboldtStrong and “In Logan Boulet’s memory.”

Yong is giving full credit to the “Logan Boulet Effect.”

Boulet had signed up to be an organ donor one year before his death. His organs helped six people after last year’s deadly bus crash.

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“Last year, after the Humboldt Broncos tragedy and when news of Logan Boulet’s incredible gift of life to six people got out there, we again saw a huge spike — as did so many of the other organ donation organizations across the country … At BC Transplant, we certainly saw the uptick then and we’re seeing it again now.”

She says in the week or so after last year’s crash, were 3,000 to 4,000 registrations. “We are seeing not quite the same numbers as last year, but very, very close.”

Yong notes if you become an organ donor, you could save up to eight lives.

“You are more likely to be in a position where you would need an organ transplant than that you would be able to actually be a donor. We currently have more than 680 people waiting in British Columbia for a life-saving transplant. We have 1.36 million British Columbia who are currently registered, but with a population of 5 million you are still waiting for hundreds of thousands of other people to register their decision.”

WATCH: Logan Boulet’s organ donation legacy

She says it only takes a few minutes to register online.

“You look at one person — what Logan Boulet has done. Not only did he save those six people’s lives, but it impacts all of the people around those six individuals. He also inspired hundreds of thousands of others to also take the same step of registering and having the conversation with their families. It’s really powerful, when you think of the ripple effect.”

 – With files from Hana Mae Nassar