‘Hurry up,’ I’m an organ donor, man committing suicide tells police

Ivan Pentchoukov
By Ivan Pentchoukov
July 25, 2017US News
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‘Hurry up,’ I’m an organ donor, man committing suicide tells police
Police tape. (Tony Webster/Flickr)

 

A Maine man told a 9-1-1 operator he was about to kill himself and that police should “hurry up” since he was an organ donor.

The man was still breathing when first responders arrived on Sunday, but died a few minutes later, according to Skowhegan police Chief David Bucknam, 7 News reported.

Investigators found a handgun at the scene as well as the cellphone from which the 9-1-1 call was made. Bucknam said that the man discussed suicide in text massages and emails.

No organs ended up being donated at the end of the ordeal. The man’s body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta, precluding any organ donation.

Police did not reveal the man’s identity.

Only 3 out of 1,000 people die in a way that allows for their organs to be taken for donation, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

There are more than 117,000 people in the United States in line for an organ donation as of July 2017.

In 2016, 33,611 organ transplants were performed in the United States.

Every day, 22 people die waiting for a transplant.

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