(ABC 6 News) – April is Donate Life Month and according to organdonor.gov, more than 103,000 people are on the national transplant waitlist.

“The chance to just appreciate life a little bit more. Or watch the sunrise another day. What a great opportunity is that?” said Hannah Edwards, a kidney and pancreas transplant recipient.

It was five years ago Hannah Edwards found out she had kidney disease. As her health worsened, she joined a transplant list in 2020. Having multiple health issues from diabetes, she also explored a pancreas transplant.

“Eventually, I did talk to the doctors about how it would benefit me to no longer be a diabetic. And how my organs could work together in order to prolong my life into having a more successful outcome from the transplant.”

March 28, she got the call she was waiting for. She packed her bags and raced from St. Paul to the Med City.

“That my prayers were being answered. That, I had a chance to have a new life without insulin, without dialysis, without being stuck or being a victim of my medical problems that I’ve had for so long.”

Edwards’ organs both came from the same person who had passed away.

As Mayo Clinic explains, there are plenty of ways to donate while you’re still living.

“It’s possible to donate one side of a healthy liver, The liver side that remains in the donor grows back actually very quickly. In the first week, it regenerates to 70% of its original size. In the recipient, that regeneration happens just as quickly,” said Dr. Julie Heimbach, a transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic.

A donation that could lead to fewer people on the national transplant waitlist.

“We have really, a huge number, a critical shortage of available organs to meet the needs on the large waitlist, more than 100,000 waiting. Unfortunately, not everybody on that list is going to make it to a transplant,” added Heimbach.

It’s a gift that Edwards can’t put into words.

“The overwhelming amount of gratitude I have right now is insane. I’ve been humbled at the amount of support, and, love, and prayers, and thanks that I’m receiving. I didn’t really know that I was worthy of that as a person because I’ve done so much damage in my past. Getting this is an opportunity for me to just kind of let my light shine.”

This Friday is the 10th anniversary of Mayo Clinic’s Walk of Remembrance. Honoring organ, tissue, and eye donors. It starts at 4 p.m. at Saint Marys.

If you are interested in becoming an organ donor, you can click here.