Organ Donation Thesis

1959 Words8 Pages
Organ Donation “Hope, renewal, transformation,” is the slogan for UNOS, a company that dedicates its time to finding organ donors and saving lives. UNOS is the foundation that carried out the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, with a heart transplant following behind closely in 1981. Due to the increased need for organs, the NOTA act was passed three years after these transplants were deemed successful. The NOTA act, the National Registry for Organ Matching, is a declaration that makes finding donors easier for patients who have been suffering from organ failure (“Donation”). Organ donation is a process that saves thousands of lives every year and improves the lives of thousands more. Many people consider being an organ donor because…show more content…
When someone dies, it can leave the people around them feeling broken and confused. However, knowing that part of their loved one continues to live in the world and was able to save someone's life can offer much comfort in times of sadness. A quote from a UNOS article stresses the importance of donors, “Without the donor, there is no story, no hope, no transplant. But when there is an organ donor, life springs from death, sorrow turns to hope and a terrible loss becomes a gift” (“Donation”). This quote exemplifies how an organ donor has the ability to transform pain into beauty for all parties involved in the donation. Before dying, a donor is given the chance to choose what organs they would like to donate after they pass away. Most people choose to donate them all, but if a donor falls ill, then the decision is left to their loved ones. When a donor is pronounced brain dead and has not yet made any decisions regarding their organs, their family is given the task of deciding if and what to donate (“Types”). There are many heartfelt stories about donors that have been recorded on organ websites. One of those stories goes as follows; Anne was a fifty-three year old mother who lived in Minnesota with her husband and children. One day, she suffered a brain aneurysm and died in a nearby hospital. Anne’s family overheard a doctor speaking to a patient's family in the waiting room about their young son who was going to die due to kidney failure. Anne’s family then quickly decided to donate her organs. With her organs, Anne was able to save four lives, including the life of the child nearby. She was also able to improve the sight of three people with her cornea. Anne’s family claimed that even though they physically lost a mother and wife, they know that she is always with them, just in a different form. This knowledge helped Anne’s family deal with
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