Why We Should Become Organ Donors

Tonight I was watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The family, that the show was about tonight, tragically lost their son to a car crash. On the show it was known that the woman's son was an organ donor. This hit home and inspired this article I am writing now.

Everyone, if at all possible, should become an organ donor. It really does save someone's life. The reason this story hit so close to home for me was the fact that almost two years ago I lost my brother. In a previous article I stated he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 28. It also turned out that my brother was an organ donor.

Because of having a massive heart attack, he wasn't able to donate his heart. This doesn't mean he wasn't able to help others out when they needed it. It also doesn't mean that he played a less significant part in organ donation by being able to donate the small parts of him. Also, with advance medical technologies, tissue donation often is a way to help others. After my brother passed away, there were parts of him that were taken to help others. I know that someone received one of his leg bones. Someone else was donated a bone from his arm. They took the corneas from my brother's eyes and were able to donate them. Last they took parts of skin from his back and pelvic area so that it could be used as skin graphs. I take comfort everyday that my brother helped someone else even after his passing. There are people in this world today who can see better because of his corneas, and burn victims healing because of his skin being donated.

Many often think that organ donation isn't much and that they can't possibly help others. They are mistaken because they can. There are so many people out there in this world today who need a liver, a heart, kidneys, and even tissue and bones. By becoming an organ donor people have a chance at saving someone's life. To me that is the last good deed that we can do after we have left this world. You no longer need these parts to survive, but so many others do.

By my brother donating what he could, it somehow helped our family through the grieving process. It also turned something negative into something positive for us. If you are not an organ donor, then I would think about becoming one. There are so many people who need transplants and spend years on waiting lists. Don't you think it's good to save a life?