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It's a list no person wants to be on.

But this week, 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ to continue living.

The numbers are heartbreaking to Tricia Barrera of the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance.

she told Action 4 News that 3,640 people out of that 100,000-person waiting list are in the Rio Grande Valley.

Another 190 people are on the organ list at the South Texas Transplant Center waiting for a kidney.

Barrera said that number is hight because many Hispanics in the Valley develop diabetes and then unfortunately end up on dialysis.

"Basically because we're Hispanic, we might develop diabetes then develop kidney malfunction and have to go to a dialysis center and that means you're on the waiting list," she said.

Barrera said the fight is on to save these 190 people who are part of the 100,000-person list.

But Barrera said it's tough to get people to agree to be donors in an area where cultural beliefs discourage them from it.

She said only 18 families donated organs in this area last year.

But she said there is hope has come in the form of a grieving Valley mother who lost her son Joel Guerrero in a car accident.

Connie Guerrero told Action 4 News that she found comfort in giving someone else a second chance.

"There are three people that he saved," she said.

Valley resident Jaime Longoria said his son received a heart transplant because somebody else said "yes" to organ donation.

"The doctors told us the only way to save him was a heart transplant," Longoria said.

Barrera said the heart-warming story is just one of many made possible through organ donation.

"It's not about death, it's about life and it's a gift you're gonna give to others," she said.

The Texas Organ Sharing Alliance is urging more Valley residents register as a donor.

Anybody renewing their driver's license can do so through the Texas Department of Public safety.

Barrera said donors also need to make their wishes known to your family members because they will have the final say in what happens.

Anybody interested in donating their organs can, is asked to call Tricia Barrera at the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance at (956) 630-0884 or go to their website at http://www.txorgansharing.org.