Organ Donation Saves Lives

999 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on the benefits and risks of organ transplant

About seventy-Four people a day receive an organ transplant, however an average of seventeen people die each day waiting for transplants. Did you know that more than 88,000 men, women and children currently await life-saving transplants? Every 12 minutes another name is added to the national transplant waiting list. Of those 88,000 waiting, 61,000 of them are waiting for a kidney. How many of you reading this are organ donors? I use to feel that I didn't want a doctor taking anything from me after I have passed, even knowing that two of my family members, an uncle and cousin, had severe kidney disease. It wasn't until after they had passed away that I really thought seriously about organ donation. I'm not proud of my prior ignorance or ambivalence on the subject of organ donation. However, I am now more knowledgeable on the subject. I have a bumper sticker on my car that reads, "Don't take your organs to Heaven, Heaven knows we need them here" and how true that is. When you hear something like that it tends to make you think about your decision not to donate. But in all honesty I wasn't completely sure about just giving my organs away, I had to do my research on organ donation, I had questions, and I wanted answers. Questions like: How are organs distributed? Can I agree to donate some organs or tissue and not others? If I sign a donor card or indicate my donation preferences on my driver's license, will my wishes be carried out? And Can I change my mind? These are some of the questions I will answer for you today along with giving you a brief description about what life is like waiting on a donor list.

The first successful kidney transplant was in 1954 and is the most common transplant today. The primary f...

... middle of paper ...

...donate some organs or tissue and not others? Yes. You can specify which organs you would wish to donate.

If I sign a donor card or indicate my donation preferences on my driver's license, will my wishes be carried out? Even if you sign a donor card it is essential that your family knows your wishes. Your family may be asked to sign a consent form in order for your donation to occur.

Can I change my mind? Yes, and you have that right to do so. You can change your mind at any time.

In conclusion, people of all races, all nationalities, and all ages, depending on the cause of death, die and take with them very valuable organs that can help to fulfill a healthy life for someone who desperately needs them. What if that someone was sitting next to you? What if it was me? Or what if it was you? Don't take your organs to heaven, heaven knows we need them here.

Show More
Related

  • Organ Donation Pros And Cons

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    Seven percent of people on the waiting list—more than 6,500 each year— pass away before they are able to receive a transplant organ. One deceased organ donation supporter can save up to eight lives through organ donation. After death, organs that can be donated are the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas and small intestines. Tissues that can be donated include: corneas, skin, veins, heart valves, tendons, ligaments and bones. More than 40,000 corneal transplants take place each year in the United States; it is the most common transplant surgery that takes place (American Transplant). In addition, a donator can save and improve more than a hundred lives through tissue donation. Organ recipients are chosen based predominantly on medical need, location, and compatibility. Presently, 461,776 transplant procedures have taken place in the U.S. since

    Read More

  • Waiting for an Organ Transplant

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    Currently, more than 118,617 men, women, and children are waiting for a transplant. With this high demand for organ transplants, there is a need for supply. According to the OPTN Annual report of 2008, the median national waiting time for a heart transplant is 113 days, 141 days for lungs, 361 days for livers, 1219 days for kidneys, 260 days for pancreas, 159 days for any part of the intestine. With this world of diseases and conditions, we are in desperate need of organs. Organ transplants, followed by blood into a donated organ transfusions, are ways medical procedures are helping better the lives of the patients.

    Read More

  • Organ Donation: The Real Life Superheroes

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    A organ donation is where you take the healthy tissue from one person and transplant is to another person. The types of organs that can be donated are kidneys, heart, liver,pancreas, intestines, lungs, skin, bone marrow, and cornea. Your liver, kidneys, and bone marrow can be donated by a living donor. Your lung, heart, pancreas, intestines, and cornea come from a deceased organ donation. Database has listed al...

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Organ Donation

    2518 Words  | 6 Pages

    Legal donations are monitored nation and world wide by governments and health care organizations. Donations can be made after death or while living by willing participants. Living donations are often by family members or friends of a suffering patient in need of a transplant. Although this is true, altruistic

    Read More

  • Organ Transplant: The Positive Effects Of Organ Donation

    2056 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are two main types of organ donation that help improve the condition of sick people so that they can survive to be with loved ones. The first type of organ donation is living donation. That’s when a living person makes the decision to donate their organ to someone they know or to someone who needs it. The other main type of organ donation is when the dies and has healthy enough organs to donate them to someone else. Heart, lung, Skin and my other body parts are all able to be donate to help save someone’s life. The article “About Living Donation” says “The donor candidate is carefully evaluated by lab tests, a physical examination, and a psychosocial examination to

    Read More

  • Understanding the Complexities of Organ Donation

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to “Signing an Organ Donation Letter: The Prediction of Behavior From Behavioral Intentions” over four thousand people die waiting on the waiting list per year and there is about fifty six thousand need an organ donation (1833). Everyone is treated the same even if they signed the donation papers; they are suppose to treat everyone the same until the end (1834). A person could put themselves on the organ donation sheet and they may not use that person 's organs depending on the conditions they are in (1834). People who receive the organ are allowed to write a letter to the family but, there are certain things that they are not allowed to be said for safety reasons (1835). I think personal after my surgeries that writing a letter to the family it help put some rest to my heart as I am surgery as it did to the family. After my surgeries, I wrote a letter to the family that I got a tissue donated

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech: You Should Be an Organ Donor

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine if it were your best friend, your parents, your siblings, or any other close person that needed a live saving organ transplant. It might change your mind on being an organ donor.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech: Why Be an Organ Donor

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    You are all in luck. Becoming an organ donor, you are entitled to be able to say, “I will save a life”.

    Read More

  • Organ Donation

    344 Words  | 1 Pages

    On April 16, 1996, my grandfather passed away of cancer. He had been ill since November of 1995, and he needed a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, he never received one, resulting in the cause of his death. Each day about 70 people receive an organ transplant. However, 16 people die each day waiting for transplants that cannot take place because of the shortage of donated organs, according to organdonor.gov.

    Read More

  • What Is Organ Donation?

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the utmost common myths about organ donation is that most individuals believe if they become registered donors, physicians will easily not try their best in saving their precious life and declare them dead early for the intent of obtaining one’s organs (Hyde, Wihardjo, & White, 2012). Generally, myths like this one that withheld most individuals to become donors themselves and as a result people in need of organ is taking a toll in meeting their demand. Another, dilemma is the majority of people don’t make proper arrangements on what to do with their organs once they expire (Forbes, 2007). In general, people forget to make the necessary arrangements once they passed away, and as a result, there is less donors to contribute their much needed organs. It is essential for the community to spread great awareness to address individuals with concerns that they may still have about organ donation. The effect of awareness addresses the public concerns which lead to an increasing number of organ donations that are desperately needed in the community. Even with the awareness individuals might still be reluctant, but being an organ donor is more than just donating organs, individuals can start with donating blood and tissue. Most people feel comfortable in this area, but studies have shown that individuals who donate blood and tissue are likely

    Read More

  • The History of Organ Donation and Transplantation

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    Organ Transplants: A Brief History (21 February, 2012) Retrieved from History in the Headlines Website: http://www.history.com/news/organ-transplants-a-brief-history

    Read More

  • Organ Donation Shortage

    2036 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most important and prevalent issues in healthcare discussed nowadays is the concern of the organ donation shortage. As the topic of organ donation shortages continues to be a growing problem, the government and many hospitals are also increasingly trying to find ways to improve the number of organ donations. In the United States alone, at least 6000 patients die each year while on waiting lists for new organs (Petersen & Lippert-Rasmussen, 2011). Although thousands of transplant candidates die from end-stage diseases of vital organs while waiting for a suitable organ, only a fraction of eligible organ donors actually donate. Hence, the stark discrepancy in transplantable organ supply and demand is one of the reasons that exacerbate this organ donation shortage (Parker, Winslade, & Paine, 2002). In the past, many people sought the supply of transplantable organs from cadaver donors. However, when many ethical issues arose about how to determine whether someone is truly dead by either cardiopulmonary or neurological conditions (Tong, 2007), many healthcare professionals and transplant candidates switched their focus on obtaining transplantable organs from living donors instead. As a result, in 2001, the number of living donors surpassed the number of cadaver donors for the first time (Tong, 2007).

    Read More

  • Argument Against Organ Donation

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people believe that organ donation is a good thing, and it should be practiced for various reasons. One reason may be that through organ donation, many lives can be saved. Sometimes it’s just one organ that fails, and by receiving that organ from a person they can continue to live as they had been before. This may extend their life for many decades. Organ donation can also provide a sense of comfort. The family of the deceased may feel better knowing that even after their loved one is dead, his/her organs are still alive and helping others. It may also make living donors feel better about themselves since they may have given someone a new life with their organ. Organ donation also helps medical students practice medicine and helps them become better doctors. For

    Read More

  • The Importance of Organ Donation

    1717 Words  | 4 Pages

    Put yourself in the shoes of someone waiting for a donation. They hear of people dying and yet nothing will happen for their benefit if these people don?t choose to donate. Picture you husband or wife, on their death bed unless someone will donate their organs. Make the right decision to bring happiness out of death. Do not put your organs to waste, help those in need, and choose to donate.

    Read More

  • Speech on Organ Donation

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    Organ Transplants are one of the greatest achievements in modem medicine. However, they depend entirely on the generosity of donors and their families. Surely every compassionate person should jump at the chance, to donate their gift of life when they die! We should all be united in realising the massive positive effect a simple donor organ can have on a community! Then conclusively, looking at it from this angle, every human alive would feel it his or her unquestionable duty to donate their organs when they die?

    Read More

More about Organ Donation Saves Lives

Open Document