The Ultimate Gift- Silvia Todorova

The Ultimate Gift 

Throughout life we are all waiting for something whether it is vitally important or something with no significance we are all in need of something we don’t have. 122,344 people, here in the U.S., are waiting for an organ. They stay on the organ transplant list for years without receiving an organ. This number goes up every 12 minutes. On average, 18 people die every day from the lack of available organs needed for a lifesaving transplant. These numbers can significantly go down with your help. All you need to do is become an organ donor after death. But first you need to be educated on this subject.  

Chris Barry, a transplant doctor said that the donor not only has a direct impact on the quality of life of the recipient, he or she also impacts the family and loved ones of the recipient, as well as their own family. The Donors family often experiences conform and closure in knowing that the tragic loss of their loved one can results in the renewal of other people’s lives. It’s the end of one life but it’s the start of helping many others. One deceased donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and can save and enhance more than 100 lives through healing gift of tissue donation. 

So who can become an organ donor, well almost anyone can. According to the Document “Transplant” your medical condition at the time of death will determine what organs and tissues can be donated. Some people such as my dad, who as had hepatitis at one point in his life, cannot donate their organs because they are at a big risk of spreading the infection to the recipient. But as long as your organs aren't damaged they have the power of helping many people. According to Dr. Callender, minorities overall have a particularly high need for organ transplants because some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, and liver are found more frequently in racial and ethnic minority populations than in the general population. Similar blood type is essential in matching donors to recipients.  Some blood types are more common in ethnic minority populations, therefore increasing the number of minority donors can increase minority transplants. 

About half of the families who are asked to consider donating their relative's organs decline to give consent. By why if it can do so much good? Well, it’s important to note that's there is a big difference between stated public support of organ donation and the actual behavior of going through with organ donation. People simply are not educated on the subject. Many people haven't thought about it, or the ones who have don’t want to think about it. Nobody wants to think about dying so they   never get to registering to become an organ donor. The sad truth is that something can happen to any of us at any moment so it is important to start thinking about organ donation and get people talking about it. Let’s decreasing the shortage of donor organs, let’s educate the public.   

Ellen DeGeneres did an interview a while back with the mom of a teenage organ donor. Taylors' mom revealed that even though it was a hard decision to donate her only daughter’s organs she knew it was the right thing to do and what Taylor would have wanted. After seeing how many lives her daughter was able to save, with this amazing gift, she started an organization called Taylors gift to keep people talking about the cause and increase the number of organ donors. Today I urge you to not only to donate your organs after death but to also encourage and educate others. An article published by the Atlantic said that many religions praise organ donation, such as the Catholic Church and Pope Francis who sees it as a selfless gift. Donation does not in a way interfere with having an open casket service. Surgical techniques are used to retrieve organs and tissues, and then all incisions will be closed.  

 

 

Earlier this month I can across this the story of Matthew Heisler, a college student, who died back in March. He gave the ultimate gift to War veteran Tom Meeks, he gifted him with his heart. NBC covered this story of the Heisler family and Tom Meeks.  Matthew's dad, sister and mom, had the opportunity to meet Meeks and listen to Matthews' heart with a stethoscope.  I will never forgot the emotional moment when Matthews' sister said "The heart that I grew up with and, loved, the one I felt in all of my hug — it's still out there somewhere," she was right a part of her brother would stay alive. Not just his heart but his kidneys, liver as well as any other organs her brother was able to give.  As I was watching this touching story it dawned on me that not everyone that is in need of a transplant is able to get one in fact 6985 people are dying every year because they have to wait. This is unacceptable and completely preventable. We need to take action. Be a hero 8 times over and donate your organ after death. Live life, then pass it on.

 

 

Work Cited

Wen, Tiffanie. "Why Don't More People Want to Donate Their Organs?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. 

Gortmaker, Steven L., et al. "Improving the request process to increase family consent for organ donation." Journal of Transplant Coordination 8.4 (1998): 210-217. 

Bloom, Tracy. "Organ Donor's Family Listens to His Heartbeat in Vietnam Veteran After Lifesaving Transplant." KTLA. CNN, 27 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. 

DeGeneres, Ellen. "A Powerful and Inspiring Story." YouTube. YouTube, 9 Mar. 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. 

Transplant. Dir. John Smith. BBC, 2012. DVD. 

Callender, Clive O., et al. "Organ donation and blacks: a critical frontier." New England journal of medicine 325.6 (1991): 442-444.  pass it on.