Some 1,800 people are on the state’s waiting list, and African Americans lag in securing placement on it. Nationally, 5,600 people die each year waiting for a transplant — waitlists cover only organs from deceased donors, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

South Carolina has two transplant centers — MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina) in Charleston and Prisma Health, which operates a satellite clinic in Lexington and a primary one in Greenville.

As of March 16, 2026, 1,727 of the 1,800 waiting candidates in South Carolina are waiting for a kidney transplant, according to Sharing Hope SC.

Living donors, lifesaving gifts

Mark Campbell Dickson is the vice president of mission for Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston. Dickson has a background in social work and hospital chaplaincy, having previously completed a residency in RSFH’s Clinical Pastoral Education program.

Dickson donated one of his kidneys to his brother, John Grady Dickson, who was stricken with polycystic kidney disease in 1998. The selfless gift gave John 20 more years of life before he died from an unrelated heart attack in 2018.

“Our siblings and I were tested, and I was a perfect match! It seemed natural to be a donor as I learned more about the process,” Dickson said.

How long a transplanted organ lasts varies by the type of gift. Kidneys from living donors can last several decades, while deceased-donor kidneys average seven to nine years. A pancreas can last up to 20 years, a liver about five to 10, lungs around 10 years and a heart roughly 10 years, according to Gift of Life-Michigan.

If waiting for a kidney from a deceased donor, it may take months to get on a list — and then sometimes two to six years to receive one.

Organ organizations

At RSFH, Dickson works with Natalie Dubois, its ICU director and representative for We Are Sharing Hope SC, a Charleston-based organ and recovery services firm.

“Natalie points out the important law about OPO (Organ Procurement Organizations). Nurses and all health care professionals are trained on this,” Dickson said.

He also noted that “it is S.C. law that a representative of OPO must be the one to contact the family/next of kin regarding organ/tissue donation when a potential donor is identified.”

OPOs are 56 nonprofit, federally designated agencies in the United States responsible for increasing organ donation, evaluating potential donors and recovering organs for transplantation within specific geographic regions.

Chaplains provide what organs can’t

Dickson addressed the vital role chaplains play when families face the gravity of organ donation decisions.

“As regards your question about chaplains, we are trained through Clinical Pastoral Education to provide support for all patients and families through all situations. We provide support, prayer, and more because as you know (and the Sharing HopeSC’s website notes), every family experiences loss differently,” Dickson said.

Bone marrow, a separate need

Robert Briggs is the media relations manager for Roper St. Francis Hospital in Charleston, which was established as the first community hospital in the lowcountry in 1829.

Briggs explained that “RSFH does not provide kidney transplants, but instead only hematopoietic stem cells (commonly called ‘bone marrow’ transplants) from the patients themselves.

“These latter transplants are called ‘autologous,’ with transplants that come from a matched relative known as ‘allergenic’ ones,” Briggs said.

Autologous transplants are also used to support patients recovering from high-dose chemotherapy by accelerating bone marrow recovery. “Allergenic transplants (again, from a matched relative) provide a new immune system for the patient that is meant to fight cancer,” Briggs said.

At Charleston’s MUSC, both types of bone marrow transplants are performed — autologous and allergenic — and the program is certified by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy.

“At Roper, we work diligently to find a related donor for our patients even if it means that we are testing distant relatives. When treating patients who need a transplant, time is of the essence and waiting an extended period for a matched unrelated donor puts the patient at risk for disease relapse and other dangerous complications,” Briggs said.

Conditions requiring a bone marrow transplant are, with rare exceptions, limited to leukemias, lymphomas and multiple myeloma.

Former S.C. resident Alicia Tosco, who now lives in Scotland, received a bone marrow transplant from a stranger — a perfect match from Belgium. Her story, and the friendship that followed her first meeting with her donor, was featured in Part 1 of this series.

Waiting for an organ donation can kill you

Minority South Carolinians and members of various ethnic groups too often end up in a deadly waiting game for a lifesaving organ transplant.

More than 1,900 South Carolinians are currently waiting for a transplant. As of May 2026, 1,114 Black individuals are on the transplant list in South Carolina, representing 56.32% of the total, according to Krystal Cau, communications director at We Are Sharing Hope SC.

“African American, Hispanic and Pacific Islander individuals are three times more likely to develop end-stage renal disease, often caused by high blood pressure and diabetes,” Cau said. “Because compatible blood types and tissue markers are commonly shared with similar ethnic backgrounds, increasing registration increases outcomes for everyone.”

Of those waiting, 1,727 are kidney candidates.

A key part of the problem has been the eGFR, a measure of kidney function that historically included a race adjustment. Studies showed it was inflated by 16-21% for Black patients, hiding the severity of their disease and delaying transplants. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network mandated modifications for Black patients in 2022. A subsequent study found the change boosted transplants to 5.3 per 1,000 Black candidates — progress, but far from a solution.

“Live donation is the best way to leave a lasting legacy; one donor can save up to eight lives,” Cau said.

Learn more 

Somewhere in South Carolina, a person is waiting for a kidney, which is the most needed organ, a pancreas or other vital organ from a healthy individual. Please don’t wait. To register as an organ and tissue donor, visit DonateLifeSC.org.