Legislation that would lift barriers on organ donation has passed the Michigan House.

A Metro Detroit mother who has relied on a mechanical heart pump for years while she’s waited to get on the organ transplant list.

The McClendons hope their story will encourage others families to talk about organ donation.

Mott Children’s Hospital, but he’s happy to be there after receiving the Christmas gift of a lifetime. You can die suddenly from it.”Kaiden needed a heart transplant, which could take months. Kaiden wasn’t the only lucky patient at Mott Children’s Hospital this year. That’s music to my ears.”Barron said she will forever be grateful to the person who selflessly signed up to be an organ donor and saver her son’s life. Click here to learn more about organ donation and join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

GROSSE POINTE WOODS, Mich. – Living donor organ transplants of the kidney and liver have really changed the landscape of organ donation. Instead of having to wait until an organ becomes available and getting sicker and sicker with each passing day, having a living donor allows you to bypass that. The only treatment is to end up having a liver transplant. In time his condition worsened and he was placed on a liver transplant list. One year ago on Nov. 25, 2019 during a 10 hour surgery, Henry Ford Transplant Institute surgeon, Dr. Atsushi Yoshida, a specialist in Transplant Surgery completed the living donor transplant.

It’s happening across the board, but more so in communities of color and while organs are not matched based on race or ethnicity, it’s still important for minorities to donate. He was placed on the transplant list in August 2015. READ: Keeping hope alive for patients waiting for organ transplants“We need to donate. It’s a lot of us waiting on transplants," Love said. RELATED: Register: Michigan organ donors neededClick here to learn more about organ donation and join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.