THE GREATEST GIFT

  

To me, the greatest gift a person can give is the gift of life.

In today's fast pace world, we spend a great deal of time waiting - waiting in line at the bank, waiting in line at the drive-thru, waiting in line at the grocery store, but the longest wait any person could ever face is the life or death wait for an organ transplant. There is a huge need for organ and tissue donors.

The number of people needing an organ transplant continues to rise faster than the number of organ donors. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, over 100,000 people are waiting for organs. About 6,000 people per year with endstage organ failure die waiting for an organ transplant. Even though 10,000 to 14,000 people who die each year meet the criteria for organ donation, less than half that number become actual donors.

REASONS TO BECOME AN ORGAN AND TISSUE DONOR:

• When you die, you no longer need your organs, so why bury them six feet under ground when you have the opportunity to give the gift of life to others.
• One person can save and help up to fifty people.
• When a person dies, their kidney, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, and corneas can be donated. Tissue donations include heart valves, bones, skin, marrow, and connective tissue.

So, you may be asking, if organ donation is so important, why don't more people donate?  There are a lot of myths associated with organ donation:

MYTH: Organ donation will disfigure my body.
FACT: Great care is taken when removing the organs. This is done surgically. Donation does not disfigure the body, and you can have an open casket even if you donate your organs.

MYTH: Doctors will not try to save my life if I am an organ donor, and I'm in an accident.

FACT: Doctors will not sacrifice one life to save another. Organ and tissue recovery only takes place when a person is declared legally dead.

MYTH: I'm too old.

FACT: Age does not determine if your organs are usable. Anyone, from newborns to the elderly, can be a donor.

MYTH: Affluent people are moved to the top of the waiting list faster than a typical person.

FACT: There is a national system in place that assures the fair distribution of organs based on blood type, length of time on the list, and severity of illness. Factors such as race, gender, age, income or celebrity status are not considered.

If you could save up to eight lives and provide life changing health improvements to as many as fifty people, would you? No one likes to talk about death, and we certainly don't like to think about dying, but by becoming an organ donor when you die, you will live on as a hero to at least fifty people and their families, and that is something to be proud of. 
(By signing a Uniform Donor Card, a person indicates his or her wish to be a donor. You can also sign the back of your driver's license. But you must tell your family about your decision, so your wishes will be carried out, because at the time of death, your family will have to give consent.)

(This is a repost of one of my first posts written when I first started my blog, but I feel it is important to bring awareness whenever possible.)

*http://www.unos.org