Become an Organ Donor

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Become an Organ Donation
Organ donation is a sacrifice that can touch many people through one person’s unselfish gift. Granted that gift most often comes after a tragic loss of a loved one. As the bearer of three functioning kidneys, I have always considered organ donation to be the expected norm. But today, the focus will be to enlighten you on the reasons to consider organ donation. Organ donations are needed for every age group, race, and ethnic groups. Each person should take the opportunity to extend the gift of life to another individual through organ donation.
There are many reasons to become an organ donor but we will focus specifically on five reasons why people should donate their organs listed here. The person that needs an organ could be your family member or close friend. Organ donation can extend a person’s life and/or the quality of their life. Technology allows people to offer several organs while they are still alive. The decision to donate your organs can be easily communicated and eliminate confusion during a crisis. We will also look at some reasons why some people fear donating their organs.
When considering the donation of your organs, you should consider the person that needs an organ could be your family member or a close friend. At age 12 and during a routine physical for sports, it was found that Klarissa Ramirez had one damaged kidney and the other was failing. Her mother stepped in and offered her kidney. Klarissa went on to study and become a surgical technologist (Donate the gift of life, 2014). There are currently more than 120,000 people waiting for transplants, of which near 100,000 people need kidneys and over 16,000 people needs livers (Organ Procurement and Tranplantation Network, ...

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... People Over Age 50. (2014). US Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from: http://organdonor.gov/minority50plus/index.html
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Patrick Pruitt. (2014). US Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from: http://organdonor.gov/lifestories/lifepruitt.html
The need is real: Data. (2014). US Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from: http://organdonor.gov/about/data.html
United Network for Organ Sharing. (2014). Retrieved from http://unos.org/
What every patient needs to know. (2013). United Network of Organ Sharing. Retrieved from: http://www.unos.org/docs/WEPNTK.pdf
Why Donate? (2014). US Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from: http://organdonor.gov/whydonate/index.html

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