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Blog Assignment #3

 

"At no cost, the need was made obvious, and the request was simple – register as a donor."

said Helene Campbell in an article published by Globe and Mail Nov 2, 2012.

 

 

Hélène Campbell (born in April 18th, 1991) is a young woman from Ottawa who has raised great awareness for organ donations, largely through documenting her own need for new lungs via social media and by attracting support from celebrities including Justin Bieber and Ellen DeGeneres. (wikipedia)

 

I first came across Helene's story this past spring when a friend on my Facebook paged shared one of her videos.   It brought tears to my eyes, she is a very endearing girl.

 

This video shown on the Ellen DeGeneres show back in February 2012 when Helene's story was really starting to go viral has over 360,000 views.

Helene used social media, leveraged with famous people who use social media to raise awareness on donor needs and how to offer your organs.    The incredible impact she had on increasing donor registration in her community and beyond has opened peoples eyes to what can be done with social media, at no cost, to achieve tremendous gains in health.

Our dear girl tells us, "In Ontario, about 1,500 people are waiting anywhere from four months to several years for an organ transplant."   Looking at the overall waiting list from Trillium Gift of Life kidneys by far have the largest waiting list, then liver, then lungs and heart.

If you want to take action and do something remarkable, visit https://beadonor.ca/  and register.

Here is Helene's first video were she was rallying her troupes to get this organ donation thing going.  Her objective was to get as many people on January 19, 2012 between 8am and 6pm to tweet Justin Bieber and get him to retweet her message..he did January 21st. She really knew her social media, have a listen.





Helene has had a profound affect on donor awareness and registration, in an article posted in the Ottawa Sun, April 2012 by Mike Aubry, he writes, "Registrations for organ donations in Ottawa have skyrocketed by more than 8,000 since December, and the Trillium Gift of Life Network(TGLN) attributes it to the "Helene Campbell effect."  To see her full story from September 2011 to October 2012 click here.