We have all been there, walking through the Student Union and being asked to sign up for something that we typically are not interested in. Normally we don’t even take the time to see what the cause is before answering with some form of “no thank you”. I have been guilty of this time and time again, until recently. I was born with a heart condition known as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and as I have gotten older the talk about transplant becomes the topic more often at my yearly check-ups, but that’s a story for a different day. As any person in my position would, I began to do research about organ donations, and in that moment I realized that there was absolutely no reason for me not to register to be an organ donor (even though my heart is bad, I can still donate other things upon my death).
Trust me, I can completely see why someone would be hesitant to sign up to be an organ donor. I mean lets be honest, it’s unsettling to think about your death, no matter who you are, but once you can get past the unsettling feeling and the negative rumors regarding donating organs, it is actually one of the greatest things you can ever do. In the past I have heard many different reasons why someone opted against being an organ donor. The reason I hear the most is the belief that when doctors find out you’re an organ donor, they will not try as hard to save your life. I can tell you that when you are in a life-threatening situation in the hospital, the medical team’s main priority is saving your life, trust me, I watch Grey’s Anatomy. The talk of organ donation does not arise until after someone has passed. Other rumors are that celebrities and political officials are able to “skip the line” and get at the top of the list or that your organs can possibly be sold on black market. Wether you believe the rumors about donating organs or not, the thought of it is simply just not easy, but these are just the things that made it easier for me to decide.
At this very moment there are over 120,000 people on a a transplant list with a new person being added close to every ten minutes. Seven percent of those people will likely die before an organ becomes available to them. Personally, that was all I needed to hear before I made my decision. All I needed to know is that the number of people waiting for a transplant is eight times higher than the number of people that are willing to give up their organs after their death. All I needed to know is that even though there are close to 80 transplants a day, there are still over 20 people that die on that same day, just waiting. To me that is more than just a statistic, each number is a mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, or uncle that deserves a shot at life. Knowing that when my time on earth is through a family in desperate need of help gets a chance to keep living, for me, makes my time on earth just a little better. But, as you can see making my decision came easy. That is not the case with everyone, and that is completely understood. This is a decision that should be made with as much thought process, pros and cons lists, and family support as you may need. At the end of the day, whatever decision you make is neither right nor wrong, it is simply just your decision.
