One of the first big decisions I made when I turned 18 was decide what to do with my body when I died. I signed the organ donation line on the back of my license and registered as an organ donor the day I visited the Texas Department of Safety for my new grown-up license. I didn’t know then how important organ donation would come to be to my family.
Before my mother died, she received a bone marrow transplant that gave her a fighting chance to beat her cancer. My uncle gained an extra ten years of life after receiving a heart transplant. I’ve had friends receive kidneys and livers and one even a bone for his leg. Two years ago, my then nearly nine year old step-nephew received a double transplant of a kidney and liver; the challenge was that both organs had to come from the same donor.
The really sad part of organ donation is that often someone has to die for the transplant to take place. My sister-in-law was an emotional basket case bouncing between joy for her son having a chance to live and a combined sadness and guilt that a 17 year old boy had died in an accident and it was his organs that Clay would be receiving. A family was grieving while another was celebrating.
The good news is that the liver Clay received is still thriving and healthy; the bad news is that for the past year, the kidney has been failing. My sister-in-law drives an hour each way to the hospital on a daily basis for Clay to receive about six hours of dialysis. I just can’t fathom what a little trooper this boy is; it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about what he endures and makes me so thankful for the health of my children.
A new donor has been found for Clay and no one had to die. By some stroke of divine intervention, my brother, Clay’s step-dad, is a match and has been approved to be a living donor for Clay’s new kidney. This isn’t such a new thing, for each of the past five years, there are approximately 6,200 living donor transplants occurring; my brother is about to join that number.
With more than 111,000 people waiting on the national organ donation transplant list and 19 people dying each day waiting for a transplant, living donors have become more important than ever. Living donors can donate a kidney, a segment of their liver, a lobe of a lung, a portion of an intestine or a portion of their pancreas. Living donors can direct their donation, like my brother is with his donation, or the donation can be made to someone waiting on the national organ transplant list.
The need is greater than ever for people of color to become organ donors. The statistics on non-white organ donation is not favorable for a person of color waiting for a transplant. The chances of locating a tissue match within a person’s ethnicity is greater.
In 2008, 67 percent of all deceased donors were white, 16 percent were Black, 14 percent were Hispanic and 2.5 percent were Asian.
As of November 2010, the national waiting list was made up of 45 percent white, 29 percent Black, 18 percent Hispanic and 6 percent Asian candidates.
I’m appreciative of the people who passed away, and their families who made the decision to donate their organs. Their selflessness in death gave life to others. If you haven’t already done so, I’d encourage you to consider signing that line on your drivers license and register as a donor to ensure your wishes are met.
While I’m not a match for my nephew, I’m going to do my part by suffering through a couple of weeks of Houston, Texas winter and take care of my brother post surgery. I’m so proud of him for this selfless act and I want to be there for him as he recovers - did I mention it’s close to 80 degrees there today?
Your story about Organ Donation highlighted the tragic shortage of human organs for transplant operations.
There are now over 112,000 people on the National Transplant Waiting List, with over 50% of these people dying before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.
There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage – give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.
Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. Everyone who is willing to receive should be willing to give.
Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at http://www.lifesharers.org or by calling
1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 14,900 members as of this writing, including 843 members in Illinois.
Please contact me – Dave Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers – if your readers would like to learn more about our innovative approach to increasing the number of organ donors. I can arrange interviews with some of our local members if you’re interested. My email address is daveundis@lifesharers.org. My phone number is 615-351-8622.