If you’re healthy enough, there really isn’t any excuse not to register as an organ donor, especially given the news that the federal government is making it easier to do so.
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Australians will soon be able to register as organ donors by taking 10 minutes to fill in an online form.
You only have to look at Morpeth youngster Charlie O’Sullivan, 7, to see the importance of organ donation.
Charlie’s mum, Sally, saved his life when he was 16 months old when she donated one of her kidneys after he was diagnosed with an obstructed urethral valve.
Charlie is a prime example of how an organ donation can be someone’s ticket to a second chance at life.
It’s startling to think that there are about 1600 people on a waiting list to receive a donated organ across Australia at any given time and about 50 of these people, on average, will die waiting.
Many people have the best intentions to become organ donors only to have their wishes vetoed by family members when they are too close to death to argue.
For some people, especially in times of grief, it could be off-putting to think of doctors taking the vital organs of their loved ones – especially if the end of life is inescapably close.
But in the cold light of day, all of us know that it’s better to send a healthy heart to a body that’s in need of one than let it be buried with its original owner.
That’s why it’s important to take charge of the decision now and make it clear to friends and family that if you are a registered organ donor, you want to help save someone else’s life.
