How do you feel when you have to wait for something that you really, really want? What if it was something you couldn’t live without? Imagine you are lying in a hospital bed and you have no choice but to impatiently wait for that one organ you and your body are depending on to survive. Many people face this struggle every day. These people are waiting on a list for their perfect match… the perfect person to be their organ donor. An organ donor is a person who has an organ, or several organs, removed in ordered to be transplanted into another person.
Imagine that one of your loved ones are in the hospital… they’re very sick and you don’t know what is wrong. The doctor comes in and tells you that your loved one is having kidney failure and they will die unless they can get a transplant. There are over 101,000 other people on a waiting list for an organ and over 55,000 on the list for a kidney. Wouldn’t you give them a kidney if you could? How would you feel knowing that if they couldn’t get that kidney they would die? It hurts losing somebody you care about, and if it hasn’t happened to you yet, then you are one of the more lucky people in the world.
If you become an organ donor you can help out these struggling people and their families. You don’t need any of your organs once you die, so why not give away what you can to help? Wouldn’t you want to be helped? By donating your organs, you are losing nothing. However you will die knowing that you saved somebody else’s life, which is one of the most heroic things you could possibly do. People all over the country need organ transplants. The problem is, is that there are a lack of organ donors who make organ transplants possible. The demand for many organs and tissues such as the heart, lungs, liver, and pancreas, grows each and every day.
One person’s name is added to the national waiting list every sixteen minutes. (http://www. nationalmottep. org/statistics. shtml) However, nineteen people on that list die each day. Several of those people could be saved with your help and your donation. There are over 308 million people in the United States, and approximately only 11, 000 of them are organ donors. 10% of the people on the waiting list for an organ are under the age of 18. Imagine if one person in that statistic was your best friend, or your little brother or sister. The number of organ donors is slowly growing, but so is the number of people who are in need of organs.
These people have the potential to live with your beneficial help. To become an organ donor, all you need to do is fill out a form, which you can find on the New York State Department of Health Website. (http://www. nyhealth. gov) Becoming an organ donor is easy and free. The online form asks you very simple questions, such as your name, date of birth, and which organs or tissues you wish to donate. If you are under the age of 18, you can still choose to be an organ donor with parental consent. Anyone can decide to be a donor. A person’s medical history, race, age, and other characteristics are disregarded until your time of donation.
Medical Professionals will determine how suitable you are for donation when you die. After filling out the form, you receive a card that is proof to give the doctor’s permission to operate and remove your organs or tissues from your body. Many people have the false assumption that organ donation is against their religion. Most religions actually support it. Organ donation is giving the gift of life to somebody else, and that is one of the best things you can do. Not only is it accepted by most religions, it is also very encouraged. Every donor can save 8 lives, and enhance up to 60 lives (http://www. nedonation. org/faq/default.
aspx). When you donate your organs, you are matched up with someone who is in your age range and body type. Once you die, there is so much of your body that can be reused. The organs that can be transplanted are the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys and intestines. You can also donate much of your body tissue, such as your skin, veins, tendons, bones, bone marrow, and heart valves. So even if you have a bad heart, or have had problems with your lungs, you can still donate a lot of other organs and tissues. You would be surprised as to how many people will benefit from the parts of your body that you no longer need.
Organ donation has progressed over the years and the surgeries are currently more successful than ever. For instance, kidneys that have been transplanted from donors have saved the lives of the organ receivers 95% of the time.. If you were to become a donor it is almost guaranteed that you will save someone’s life, or at least enhance it. The organ that has the least successful survival rate is the intestine. But even intestine transplants have a 70% success rate. Transplant surgeries have also become safer with time. Even if your organs aren’t suitable for a direct transplant, they could be used for medical research.
This is another vital part of the development of organ transplantation. The more we know about these organs and tissues, the easier it will become to progress the way the transplant surgeries are performed. Once your organ or organs are removed, the surgeons forward them to the nearest organ procurement organization. The organization then delivers the organs to a transplant center, where they help find the best match for your organs. When they perform the surgery, they do not charge your family. The family of the transplant receiver is responsible for all of the costs.
The surgery will not affect the physical appearance of your body either, so if you wish to have an open casket at your funeral, all of your scars will be covered up. No matter your age, race, or religion you could help better another person’s life when you die. Just by registering with the state and filling out a card, you can become an organ donor and change the future of several people’s lives. Giving your organs and tissues once you die is the ultimately one of the best things you could ever do. Help the people who need it most and sign up to be an organ donor today.