A parting gift of life from the grave

A parting gift of life from the grave

By LES HORTON, Posted on » Sunday, June 20, 2010

I can't imagine a greater comfort than to know that your own death, unwelcome as it will be when it comes, may mean life for someone else.

Many people say no to being organ donors, either through religious objections, for personal reasons, or through fear.

It is a particularly delicate issue for the next-of-kin who may have to decide on behalf of a loved one who has been declared brain-dead - a situation in which the body is being kept alive by medical assistance but there is no brain activity left.

No-one should be pressured into saying yes, but they will always face emotional turmoil as they make the decision on whether or not to turn off the life-support and allow their loved one's organs to be harvested.

I hope that it is never a situation that I find myself in, but if it came to it I hope I would also find the emotional strength to think of the lives that may be saved - of the desperately ill patients lying dying for lack of a heart, lungs, kidney or liver.

My wife Sara carries a donor card and she also knows that in the event of early death I too would wish someone to benefit from any of my organs that may be healthy enough for transplant.

There are people walking around today who might not have been but for the thoughtfulness of people who signed up to be organ donors in the event of their death.

A new kidney can mean a normal life for a desperately ill patient who must depend on dialysis and cannot work or enjoy the things so many of us are able to take for granted.

A new heart means life, or a transplanted cornea sight for the blind.

Medical science is progressing so rapidly that one day we may be able to grow vital organs from stem cells and there would no longer be a need for donors.

But until then, thousands of people die each day worldwide, when the race to find a donor is lost and their time runs out. Thousands more, including children, are lying desperately ill, with the clock ticking. lhorton@gdn.com.bh

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