Organ Donors

Ten people are going to die today. Not from a car crash, gun shot, drug overdose, or any other accident, but because they didn't receive a life saving organ donation in time. The saddest thing about these deaths is that they are preventable. One life can save up to eight other lives through organ donations. One donor can improve 50 people's lives through corneal, bone, skin and other tissue transplants. Your heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, cornea, bone marrow, bone cartilage, blood, blood platelets and small intestine can all be donated. Nearly 90,000 men, women, and children are waiting for organ transplantation in the United States today. In 2003, 6,271 patients were removed from the national waiting list for reason of death. Every thirteen minutes another name is added to an organ donation list.

By becoming an organ donor you can continue living through someone else. Especially in a tragic death becoming an organ donor can bring something good from something tragic. In your lifetime how many chances are there going to be for you to actually save someone's life? By becoming an organ donor you are given a chance to do just that. After your death your heart and other organs have no use to you. But they could mean the world to someone else. What greater gift is there out there then the gift of life, or sight? You can give a daughter, her father. You give someone back their brother, sister, daughter, son, friend, spouse, and/or friend. . Imagine being in such a helpless position. Imagine watching someone you love slowly dieing and there is nothing you can do about it except wait. Wait for that phone call, saying that someone has chosen to give the one you love a chance to live.

There is no good reason to not be an organ donor if you are healthy. One of the biggest issue's that people have with organ donation is that they believe that their church is against it. But in all reality, all major religions support organ donations saying it is the ultimate gift of charity. Pope John Paul II has stated, "The Catholic Church would promote the fact that there is a need for organ donors and that Christians should accept this as a 'challenge to their generosity and fraternal love' so long as ethical principles are followed." According to Reverend Dr. Milton Efthimiou, Director of the Department of Church and Society for the Greek Orthodox Church of North and South America, "The Greek Orthodox Church is not opposed to organ donation as long as the organs and tissue in questions are used to better human life, i.e., for transplantation or for research that will lead to improvements in the treatment and prevention of disease." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believes that the decision to donate is an individual one made in conjunction with family, medical personnel and prayer. They do not oppose donation. The following policy statement was made on June 3, 1974; "The question of whether one should will bodily organs to be used as transplants or for research after death must be answered from deep within the conscience of the individual involved. Those who seek counsel from the church on this subject are encouraged to review the advantages and disadvantages of doing so, to implore the Lord for inspiration and guidance, and then to take the course of action which would give them a feeling of peace and comfort." Presbyterians encourage and support donation. They respect a person's right to make decisions regarding his or her own body. The nation's largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, adopted a resolution in 1988 encouraging physicians to request organ donation in appropriate circumstances and to "...encourage voluntarism regarding organ donations in the spirit