Organ
donation can change the lives of the donor and recipient forever.
According to the organ donation website, Donate Life, there are over
one hundred thousand hopeful recipients across the nation currently
waiting on the transplant list, with more people added daily.
Unfortunately, Department of Motor Vehicles records indicate there
are only about seven thousand registered donors. Each post-mortem
donor can save up to eight lives; the difference between the two
numbers is heartbreaking. Well over half of the recipients will not
receive help in time. A living donor can donate bone marrow, kidneys,
and partial livers. Myths
surrounding becoming an organ donor keep people from signing up to
donate because they worry about being qualified, donations only go to
the privileged, and they fear they won’t be able to have an open
casket funeral.
The
first myth is “I’m not qualified to be a donor because of age or
illness or I have to be dead to donate.” Nothing could be further
from the truth. There are two types of donors, living and deceased.
Living donors go through a rigorous evaluation to determine if they
are a match and adequately healthy to donate. Deceased donors must be
declared to be brain dead in order for the surgical team to procure
the organs. In each case, the medical team will evaluate medical
records and personal history and will make the determination if the
donor is a viable candidate. The oldest recorded donor was
ninety-three years old.
Another
fear potential donors have is only rich people get the organs.
Fortunately, the list is a computerized system. Recipients are ranked
by illness, immunity match, geography, and the length of time on the
list. Using the computer system, the medical teams will match the
best possible recipient to that organ. Race, religion, and wealth do
not play a part in the selection process. The entire process is made
to be as fair as possible.
Another
myth often encountered is, “I won’t be able to have an open
casket funeral if I donate.” The surgical team is exceptionally
good at their job. The medical staff almost reveres the final moments
of the deceased donor. The transplant team works very hard to
preserve the looks of the donor out of respect for the donor and for
the family. Utmost care must be taken in the removal of the organs so
that they will be viable once they are transplanted.
As
heartbreaking as the disparity between donors and recipients is, it
is truly beautiful what happens when a match is made. Videos of
recipient’s reactions float around the internet. My experience
isn’t recorded on video, but it’s no less touching. In October,
we were in the process of putting my son on the kidney transplant
list. We’d just submitted the paperwork and the testing. A friend
of mine shared a story on social media where a young child had
drowned at a party. He had been life-flighted to a nearby Children’s
Hospital. While he was there, it was determined that he had no brain
activity. It was heartbreaking. The mom shared that they were in the
process of donating her child’s organs. I expressed my thanks for
her selfless act as we would be on the recipient side shortly. Her
family immediately contacted me and offered to be the donor for my
son. My heart soared even as it broke for this family. Unfortunately,
this match didn’t work out for us, but it did for another child.
Just the thoughtfulness of this family changed my life forever. Now
I am not only an advocate for organ donation, I am a match for my
son. I get to give him the gift of life – again.
Organ
donation is not a mind thing. It is a heart thing; it is how a donor
feels about donation. It is how the donor feels about being the one
who can literally save another person’s life. It is not enough to
merely click the box on the driver’s license form. The donor must
tell family members. Put it in writing and make the wish known to
give the gift of life. Step forward as so many others have done. Step
forward and make the difference for someone. Push the myths
surrounding organ donation aside. Be someone’s hero. Sign up to be
an organ donor today.
Citations
“Frequently
Asked Questions.” DonateLife
https://www.donatelife.net/faq/
March 1, 2019.
“Organ,
Eye and Tissue Donation Statistics.” DonateLife
https://www.donatelife.net/statistics/
March 1, 2019.
“The
Truth About Organ Donation.” ZdoggMD.
August 2, 2018.
https://zdoggmd.com/organ-donation/
March 1, 2019.
Notes & Acknowledgements
This is a paper I wrote for a college essay. I got 195/200 so a 97.5%. Huge thanks to Betsy Love for being there and helping me through the editing and revising process. I don't think this paper would have been quite as strong without your help!
