Minority organ donors far fewer than recipients

CLEVELAND — There’s no getting over the loss of a child, but one mom whose son died of unknown causes is coping through organ donation.

Sandra Fletcher is the keeper of the family photos — she has a closet full of albums. Photos of her family are throughout her home, including one of her son in his football uniform.

Fletcher said Alex, like his dad, had always been a sports fan. At one point, he was working a part-time job as a field keeper for the now Cleveland Guardians.

Alex played football in high school and was always healthy. He was living at home in July of 2017.

“I called down and said dinner was ready, and I didn’t get an answer,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher’s son had died in his sleep. He was 26.

Fletcher said she was in disbelief. She said she spoke to her husband about donating Alex’s organs as a way to give his life and his death meaning. 

Her husband, Greg, was set against it. In the end, they moved forward with the donation, and 103 people received donated tissue from Alex.

“Unfortunately, there are far fewer people in minority communities who are donating,” said Katie Payne, CEO of Lifebanc, a nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization.

Payne said ethnicity is a big factor in finding a match, and transplant wait times can be long in minority communities, where the number of donors is dwarfed by a much longer list of people who are waiting.

“It’s often related to myths and community misconception — a lack of trust in the health care system,” Payne said.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, about 23% of organ transplants in the U.S. last year were received by African Americans but make up only 12.6% of donors.

Payne said aside from blood type and size, people from different ethnicities make different antibodies.

“Some of the organs, especially kidneys, there are certain antibodies that make it so you can’t accept someone else’s kidney,” Payne said.

And while Fletcher’s husband struggled with the concept of organ donation when Alex died, the experience ultimately made a difference.

He died of complications related to diabetes in 2024, and, unknown to her, he had registered to donate his corneas.

“I was proud of him that he had done that,” Fletcher said.