Who Can Become a Donor?

Only around one per cent of people will pass away in circumstances that make them medically suitable to become organ donors, however most people have the potential to be an eye or tissue donor after death.

Organ donation is only possible when a person's brain has died and that person is on a ventilator in an intensive care unit in a hospital. In most cases, organ donors have died from a head injury or from bleeding in the brain.

Some of the factors that determine a person's suitability to become a donor include:

• the circumstances of how, where and when a person dies
• any past medical history
• age is considered, but it is more important to assess organ function

You may still become a donor if you smoke, wear glasses, drink alcohol or regularly take medication.