Soccer Club's Organ Donation Campaign Reduces Waiting List To Zero

For two years, Brazilian side Sport Club Recife has urged fans to sign up as organ donors. The BBC catches up with the campaign, and it's working better than anyone could have hoped.

The spot, "Immortal Fans," features supporters in need of transplants. Says one man, waiting on new corneas, "I promise that your eyes will keep on watching Sport Club Recife."

The ad has aired on television and before every SCR match, and according to the BBC, 66,000 have signed up so far for the "sport donor" card. The increased awareness can't be measured so exactly, but in the campaign's first year, the transplant waiting list in Recife, Brazil's fifth-largest city, dropped to zero. And the number of heart transplants performed in the surrounding state more than quadrupled.

Here's a reminder that you should be an organ donor as well. Sign up with your state registry, check the box on your driver's license, and tell your family. You will literally save lives, without having to do a damn thing.

[ BBC]