KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Vols are known for many kinds of achievements, and now they are hoping to rack up one more — registering organ donors across the state.
Donate Life TN challenged the Vols and the Vanderbilt Commodores to see which team could get the most people registered as organ donors. People can register online and show which team they are rooting for. They said they hope to register around 100,000 new donors by the end of the year.
Tom Satkowiak, the Associate Athletics Director for Communications at the University of Tennessee, has worked with the Tennessee Men's basketball program for the last 13 years. He was diagnosed with liver disease when he was a UT student in 2001.
He was placed on the transfer list in 2015, and 3 years later he received a new liver at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
"The hero in the whole story is the donor," he said. "In my case, I got a cadaver liver and I wasn't able to thank my donor, but there are donors out there, there are families out there that have suffered tremendous losses. But in that loss comes something beautiful, and they've given another person or sometimes multiple people, a whole new lease on life."
Anyone who wants to register as an organ donor, and help their team win the competition, can register online at bethegifttoday.com.