Organ transplants pass 30,000 milestone

RICHMOND, Va. (WPVI) -- More people than ever are giving the gift of life.

Organ transplants in 2015 reached a milestone, thanks to more donations.

For the first time ever, more than 30,000 transplants were done in the United States in one year.

The U.S. passed the 30,000 mark a week before Christmas, ending the year at almost 31,000.

That was up 4.9 percent from 2014.

The numbers continue a 3-year string of transplant records.

Officials say donations from both living and deceased donors were higher.

Many states have made it easier to sign up as an organ donor on a driver's license.

And organ-matching websites and paired donations have made living donation easier.

More minorities than ever are both giving and receiving new organs.

But, there are still 121,000 men, women and children on the waiting list, so there's more work to do.