Life after Death :: but not what you think

Last month I got a new Missouri driver's license.. the first time I have not had a Kansas license since 1976.. and yes Kansas City is in Missouri. Standing there.. taking the eye exam.. getting my photo taken.. I was asked if I wanted to be an organ donor - I said yes.

According to a Google search of the news there have been 549 recent news items about organ donors. Here are a few of them from the past few days:
  • Abby DeAnda was only 17 years old when she lost her life in a tragic car accident back in 2006. Abby's father Luis DeAnda tells Action 4 News, "Through her death she was able to touch six people's lives through organ donation." The six people Abbey DeAnda saved range from age six to sixty eight.
  • If it wasn't for an organ donation from an American a 28-year old Irish man believes he would have died of heart failure. He was given a donated human aortic valve that saved his life from a donor in the U.S.
  • Two years after she died from injuries sustained in a car accident, Brook Peterson continues to benefit others in many different ways. Her transplanted organs have given three people who never met the 17-year-old a second chance at life.
  • "Amanda was an organ donor," the obituary read, "and seven people were recipients of her gift of life." Rosepapa was a very special young woman, in many ways. But for seven people, her many achievements in life pale in comparison to one action she took: She became an organ donor, making it clear that in the event of her death, her body was to be used to help others.
What is most inspirational about these stories is that these donors were young people.. young folks who seemed to have their hearts and their heads in the right place. I applaud these young folks. Sadly when I was younger I was not a donor. I had a weird fear of being dissected postmortem. With age I grew out of it.

How about you? Are you a donor? Has someone you know been helped by organ donor?

3 comments:

  1. I don't know of any personally that has been a recipient of an organ donation.

    For years I have been an organ donor. For some reason the last time my DL was renewed I must have missed the box.

    My DL comes due in February of 2011 and this time I will make sure I am again.

    It is a good program.

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  2. Our cousin 65 just received a heart from a 27 year old donor. He had been on a waiting list at UC Medical Center for some time, on a machine to keep him alive. A new technique is being used where the heart stays hot, and blood pumps continually. Not like the movies where they have the heart in an ice chest.

    Two months ago, Howard received his new heart, and is doing well. Being checked every week for several for months to make sure there is no rejection.

    Many grateful thanks to the family that let their 27 year old son, give his heart to keep a 65 year old man alive and have a future.

    I'm a donor.

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  3. Yes I am a donor and am very happy to be one.
    When our dear friend died 2 years ago he became a donor. He had many health issues and there never was a thought that his organs could be used. But, they were.
    His eyes were used and his skin tissue was used in research. I know other things were also. Even if actual use for people things can be used for research. That was a new thought to me.
    Happy to be a part of research even.

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