Organ Donating... Good or Bad?

Organ Donation What is going to happen to your body when you die? Will you be buried, cremated, or will you use it for the benefit of others? Organ donations can save lives and be used for research. Organ donation is not solely restricted to people who have passed. Donating is also possible when you are alive. Every American needs to become an organ donor because millions of lives could be saved. Saving lives after death is one of the major motivating factors for organ donations. One organ can save up to eight lives (“Organ Donation Facts”). There are over 114,000 people waiting for organ transplants (“Organ Donation Facts”). There was a case of a woman’s husband dying from a car crash and he donated his organs. A few months after his death she got letters in the mail that his organs saved the lives of five people, one of which was a single mother of two small children. On average, eighteen people die a day from being on the waiting list for organ transplants (“Organ Donations”). Every ten minutes someone is added to the waiting list (“The Need Is Real”). These tragic facts are just some of the reasons why people need to become organ donors. It is also possible to donate certain organs while still being alive. While this is more difficult, there is an excellent success rate for the surgeries (CNN Health). Most of these situations involve donating to a family member, saving the life of someone cared for by the donator. Also, by donating to a family member it makes you closer to that person. After you donate you will be contacted by the person that got your donated organ, in case you want to talk to them ( Living Donors Online). In 2010 more than eighteen thousand kidneys were donated by live donors ("Save A Life"). If a person needs a new kidney they are on dialysis, but if you would donate a kidney to them it would double there life span ("Benefits Of Living Donation"). Donating an organ while being alive is an incredibly generous thing to do and every American should consider.
Yet another option is whole body donations for science and research. There is a significant shortage of human tissue, the tissue that they have are being used to find cures for cancer and neurological disorders (Fox News). Tissue is also needed to give surgeons operating experience (Fox News). If surgeons do not get the experience they need then when they go into surgery on someone they are not prepared and are more likely to make a mistake. Also firefighters and EMT's need experience with tissue because of burns and emergency medical treatment (Iiam). Also when you donate your entire body it can be used in museums for educational purposes. This educates people on how the body works and why we should be organ donors (Iiam). Donating for science is a very useful way to donate organs after you die.
While donating your body and organs is obviously a selfless and beneficial act, there are some people who are opposed to organ donation. There are some who argue that if one is in a situation that requires serious medical attention, doctors will not try as hard to save you because you are a donor and could save others. However, doctors will put just as much effort into saving you because only the transplant team knows if you are an organ donor. Some also believe that old people cannot donate organs, making it impossible for people who die of natural causes to donate. There is no defined age limit for a donor; organs have been successfully transplanted from people in their seventies and eighties.
Every American needs to become an organ donor to save and help many lives. Your body has no use to you after you have died. Also you could save up to eight peoples lives. Donating organs while you are alive is also an option when donating and it could save the life of someone very important to you. Research is a very important part of organ donating because it trains medical personnel to be better prepared so that they can save lives when they are working. When you get your license or renew your license, be sure to answer yes to being an organ donor.