THE IMPORTANCE AND VALUE OF ORGAN DONATION
In 1990 I lay in an Intensive Care Unit at Washington Hospital center on a heart pump and hardly able to breathe on my own. Surrounded by family, doctors, and nurses I was informed that my heart muscle was destroyed and I would not leave the hospital alive without a heart transplant.
I was a man of forty-seven facing death. I doubted the technology and even the idea of such a drastic procedure. I turned in desperation to my friend and soul mate, Peggy, for guidance. With almost no hesitation she said, “Go for it!”
It is now eighteen years later. I may be a little biased in stressing the value of transplantation as a heart transplant survivor myself. It is a wonderful gift to face certain death and be given a second chance. It is a sacred gift when you realize there is a family that was caring and astute
enough to make the difficult choice of allowing the removal of organs and tissue from their twenty-two year old healthy son who died suddenly in a tragic accident.
Every day children, adolescence, and adults are added to the list of those awaiting organ or tissue transplantation. Every hour of that same day some will die waiting. The fact is there are over 100,000 patients waiting for an organ or tissue transplant, and a third will die waiting.
I have lived eighteen wonderful years as an organ recipient. I have rejoiced in every day of those years, feeling thankful for the great gift I received. I have lived life fully, and have traveled to the corners of the earth, watched my children and step-children prosper and achieve all the things a parent would hope-far beyond expectations. I have enjoyed grandchildren and great-grand children. I never forget my special blessing and give back whenever I can. I try to never miss a sunset or a sunrise.
I hope everyone will pause and reflect on the most precious of gifts that one can give, the gift of life. When you can give that gift, one never really dies. A part of your life continues. There are two types of people lying side by side in the cemetery: Those who died and did not donate and those that might have lived if they had. Remember the motto of organ donation: “Don’t take your organs to heaven, because heaven knows they could be used right here on earth!”
Tags: awareness, donor, organ
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