SitNews - Stories in the News - Ketchikan, Alaska

 

Viewpoints

RE: A Gift of Life (SitNews 12/2/2005)
By David J. Undis

 

December 04, 2005
Sunday


The generosity of live organ donors like Kim Kirby is remarkable. But we wouldn't need live organ donors if Americans weren't burying or cremating 20,000 transplantable organs every year.

There is a better solution to the organ shortage -- if you don't agree to donate your organs when you die, then you go to the back of the waiting list if you ever need an organ to live.

Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. About 70% of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life shouldn't be eligible for transplants as long as there is a shortage of organs.

Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. They do this through a form of directed donation that is legal in all 50 states and under federal law. Anyone can join for free at www.lifesharers.org. LifeSharers has 3,426 members, including 8 members in Alaska.

David J. Undis
Executive Director LifeSharers
E-mail: daveundis@lifesharers.org

www.lifesharers.org
Nashville, TN - USA

 

 

Related Story:

A Gift of Life By MARIE L. MONYAK - What would you give to save a life?  Would you sacrifice your own life for someone else?  What about donating an organ?  And what if the person in need wasn't even a family member, but just a friend?  What if it happened, not just in theory, but in reality?   How willing would you be to "go under the knife" to donate an organ for a friend?  That's just what Kim Kirby did for Sara Schroeder.  And that's just the beginning of a long journey that these two exceptional women embarked upon back in the spring of 2004. - More...
Friday - December 02, 2005

 

 

Note: Comments published on Viewpoints are the opinions of the writer
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sitnews.

 

Send a Letter -------Read Letters

E-mail the Editor

Sitnews
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska