BELLINGHAM, Mass. — The record number of people dying from the heroin epidemic is having an unexpected consequence.
The victims are now saving lives of those on the organ donor waiting list.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 75,000 people on the organ donor waiting list, but only 8,000 deceased organ donors each year.
Mary Chimi, of Bellingham said she is alive today because of such a donation.
“I truly feel like I’m on top of the world,” she said.
Chimi was diagnosed with a genetic liver disease six years ago.
Dr. Adel Bozorgzadeh told her a transplant would be her only chance of survival.
Chimi’s daughter, Kate DiMascolo was a match.
"I said you're letting me do this because I need you and I'd rather do this than lose you," said DiMascolo.
The surgeries were successful but the transplant lead to complications and Chimi was put back on the waiting list until this past April.
"The doctor came in told me we have a liver,” said Chimi. “Within an hour I was on the table."
Before the transplant could begin, there was something Dr. Bozorgzadeh had to tell her.
"Told me that it was a young person, an overdose," she said
According to Dr. Bozorgzadeh, one in 11 donors in the United States is the result of an overdose death.
At the New England Organ Bank, the rate is 1 in 5.
"This is not what we're looking for but it's what we're dealing with," said Alexandra Glazier, the President and CEO of the New England Organ Bank. “It is an unexpected silver lining to what’s absolutely a horrible tragedy.”
She said they have been tracking the opiod epidemic and discovered that crisis is helping to curb the chronic organ shortage.
In 2010, 8 donors in the Northeast died from a drug overdose. Glazier said last year, that number jumped to 54, a 575% increase.
"The face of organ donation is changing and with it comes different clinical implications," Glazier explained.
Organs from overdose donors are considered high risk because of the potential to pass on disease.
Dr. Bozorgzadeh said that is with every transplant, but because of guidelines drafted by the U.S. Public Health Service, rigorous tests are in place to minimize the risk.
[ Read the U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines ]
He said these are "pretty accurate tests that with a high degree of accuracy can detect a virus or a viral agent."
Glazier said often times the risk is minimal because many overdose victims are ideal donors.
"They are in fact often young and otherwise healthy individuals and so our ability to transplant those organs is actually quite high," she said.
In addition, the recipient must sign off on the organ but for many, like Chimi, the risk is better than the alternative.
"As soon as I got that second liver it's like it never happened," said Chimi.
Her daughter added, "we went from planning her funeral the week before to a whole new life."