Become an organ donor

Amy Rae
The Silhouette

The Barrie Examiner recently presented a story about college student Helene Campbell from Ottawa who was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in April 2011. This fatal disease can come from many causes, such as smoking tobacco and genetic factors. Fortunately, she received a life-saving double-lung transplant soon after her diagnoses.

Many other Canadians’ in Campbell’s position are not as fortunate. Organ donation should be better promoted in Canada; the Canadian Transplant Society stated that more than 90 per cent of Canadians support the donation of organs and tissue, but fewer than 25 per cent have yet to go through with it.

Organ donation has longingly held countless myths, which are partially the reason behind many people choosing not to donate. Some common myths include: “If I agree to donate my organs, the hospital staff won’t work as hard to save my life,” “What if I am not really dead when they sign my death certificate?” and “Nobody would want my organs, I’m too old,” and so on.

A lack of information on organ donation, leading to these beliefs, is continuously swaying people towards not registering as a donor.

Why not give someone the opportunity to a healthier life or life in general? Donors are capable of saving up to eight lives. According to the Trillium Gift of Life Network, approximately 1,500 residents in Ontario alone are on a transplant buy cialis uk waiting list.

It is time for Canadian citizens to realize that by donating organs and tissues after death, so many can benefit. Spending your life on dialysis for example, is not a life well lived, especially when someone’s healthy kidney could be yours.

It is up to us as a society to bring awareness to the benefits of becoming a donor and there are many ways we can do so. A couple from Scotland, Gordon Hutchinson and Catriona Anderson who were wed this year, asked their guests to consider registering to become an organ donor in exchange for traditional wedding gifts. Hutchinson received a heart transplant when he was 13 due to his congenital heart defect. He and many other donor recipients are trying to encourage as many people possible to become donors.

Hutchinson was lucky enough to receive the transplant he so desperately needed, but many others are not as privileged. By becoming a donor yourself, and encouraging others to do so, many people who wouldn’t originally have the opportunity to finish school, travel the world, establish a career, get married and build a family, will now have that chance.

Register to become a donor and give people within our country better odds to living a healthy and fulfilled life.

Become a donor at beadonor.ca