In 2002 Dave Undis started a non-profit group called LifeSharers. The idea behind it was that if you join the club you agree to donate your organs or tissues to members after your death If upon your death no club members need your organs, or there isn’t a match, they are offered to non-club members. Sounds like a darn fine idea to me. Every year thousands of viable organs are disposed of in graves and hundreds of people that need new hearts, livers, lungs die because there aren’t any matches to them or they are too far down on the list. The club is free, so it’s not exclusive. Rich and poor get the same chance, if your a member. Mr. Undis realized that there wasn’t enough incentive to get people to donate their organs. Many people feel that a program like this is unfair to people but to them I say join the club. If more people agreed to give the gift of like after their deaths then a program like this wouldn’t be needed.
It might sound ghoulish to want to join a club like this but I look at it as being like free insurance. No, not insurance, because that’s a sure thing. Something gets broken, you file a claim, you get money. This is more like an inside tip on a race. It isn’t 100% certain that your going to win (a suitable donor still might not be there for you when you need it) but it lowers the odds that your not even going to place. I’ve never thought too much about transplants because like everyone else I figured I’d never need one. Heck, I haven’t even known anyone that’s needed an organ transplant. I’m sad to say that this has changed. My mother in law has been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver due to the side effects of a medication that she was taking. She is waiting on a suitable liver to become available for some time now. I only hope that one becomes available soon.
For more information becoming an organ or tissue donor:
For more information on LifeSharers, visit www.lifesharers.org or call 888-ORGAN88.
To register as an organ donor, call 800-94DONOR and make your wishes known (from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services):
1. Indicate your intent to be an organ and tissue donor on your driver’s license.
2. Carry an organ donor card. (http://www.organdonor.gov/signup1.html)
3. Most important, discuss your decision with family members and loved ones.
[via Physorg]
ABC News – A ‘Members Only’ Club for Organ Donors
