Georgia Tippett
Should an individual’s family be responsible for their relatives’ body and organs after their death, having the last say? Should someone, dying of a terminal illness or organ failure, give in to the undeniable possibility of death because they cannot get an organ transplant – due to the opinions of another, far off family member? Organs give life, and life is one of the main things that we all have in common, yet everyone’s views on this matter are so varied. Isn’t it time we were all on the same page?
In the United States, as of April 2018, there were 114,000 people waiting for an organ transplant, yet in 2017, there were only 34,770 transplants performed. (1) The sheer difference in these numbers is almost incomprehensible, because for every person that lives another day without the organ they desperately need, they are one day closer to death. In fact, 20 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant. But we can change this.
Even though the majority of people are actually in favour of organ transplants, the problem is that it is a much smaller subset of this population that actually goes through with it. 95% of U.S. adults support organ donation, yet only 54% are signed up as donors. Why is this? What I think the main reason is, is that we are human: as a human we have emotions. Emotions can cloud our whole perspective and change even our most positive of intentions. Yes, so many of us want to help others, give others a chance at life if it is at all possible for us to help. But I think we are clouded by fear: fear at how our families would feel, knowing their loved one was being cut up and taken apart as soon as they die, regardless of the good they are bringing to the world. Fear of the thought of yourself being taken apart, piece by piece, and not being laid to rest peacefully for eternity. Maybe this isn’t the general case; everyone has different reasons, opinions and beliefs, but the reality is this: every 10 minutes, another suffering soul is added to the waiting list for an organ donor.
Diagram of possible organ donations; sourced from https://funeralsyourway.com/organ-donation-save-a-life/
However, this is just half the story. Sure, part of the reason that so many people do not have access to the organs they need is because of the donors – but the other half is the sheer complicated nature of such a procedure. On top of the fact that when an organ is ‘donated’, there is a very short window of time to transplant this into another individual, the journey after implantation is equally as testing. This is because of the levels of tolerance to an organ. (2) Essentially, when a foreign organ is transplanted into someone else’s body, their body recognises it as a foreign object and immediately gets to work on rejecting the organ – just like your body would try to reject a viral infection as soon as you get sick – although in this case, rejection is not the desired outcome. To overcome this, immunosuppressant medication must be taken for the rest of the patient’s lives so that the immune system doesn’t reject the organ. Therefore, the success of an organ transplant is an ongoing process, and does not stop once the cuts have been stitched up.
Because of the extreme difficulty of a successful organ transplant, it is even more paramount that the number of possible organ donors available keeps increasing. I believe that organ donation is a process that should be talked about more, so that the society today can be more active in discussion with loved ones about the importance of donation of organs. The number of lives that can be saved is the only justification that I think is needed for this act. If you had the opportunity to save a life, would you take it?
Further information about being an organ donor can be found here: https://www.donor.co.nz/facts-and-myths/faqs/
REFERENCES