Organ Donation
Tuesday 9th October
A story on the BBC News website caught my eye today:
“The Church of England has declared organ donation to be a Christian duty, in keeping with giving oneself and one’s possessions freely.”
For me, organ donation is one of those great moral dilemmas. On the face of it, I think it’s a sound idea - helping others to live after your death, but the selfish side of me says that I would like to go to the grave intact, thankyouverymuch - I especially don’t want things removed if I’m not quite dead yet.
And what if I found myself in the position as a recipient? Would it be hypocritical to receive a donation without having been a donor myself? I’m not sure right now, but I’m erring on the side of no.
There’s an interesting (possibly biased in favour of donation) summary of various religions’ positions at organtransplants.org.
I suppose, even if I come down on the side of not being a donor, it’s better to have thought about it and decided than to be oblivious to the issue in the first place.
I completely agree with you Stu, I’m holding on to my bits for as long as possible - and then some!
Matt
9 Oct 07 at 8:58 am
It is better to have thought about it… but the judgmental bastard in me would suggest that this line of thinking is just an attempt to alleviate a guilty conscience.
I carry a donor card, and really hope that the “opt out” scheme is brought in. The thing is I don’t really believe in any organised religion’s view of God or the afterlife… it is my belief that my soul doesn’t rest inside my heart or lungs, so I guess it just doesn’t bother me what I take to the grave.
I guess what I’m saying is that the judgmental bastard in me doesn’t take into consideration other people’s beliefs. Do what you believe is right.
Kouros
9 Oct 07 at 9:03 am
You’re not a bad bloke for a judgmental bastard, K
stu
9 Oct 07 at 9:06 am
I’ll tell the judgmental bastard in me that he must try harder.
Kouros
9 Oct 07 at 9:09 am
I’ve done several gallons of blood donation, and am on the bone marrow register (but nobody’s ever wanted me). As for other bits …. I’m not sure. I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I’m not convinced I’d want to be a recipient either. But then again, I don’t know what it’s like to be so ill as to need a donor, so it’s likely I’d change my opinion when push came to shove.
I’d fight tooth and nail for a donor for someone I loved, though - they could have any parts I’ve got spare.
JG
9 Oct 07 at 9:32 am
I’d be dead, I don’t think I’d care that much. I’ve carried a donor card since I was 15, half my life ago. If I could figure out how to donate my whole body to let trainee doctors learn on/fiddle with/make balloon animals with intestines, I’d be fine with that too.
flibble
9 Oct 07 at 10:12 am
Flibble - make a will that says that you want your body donated for medical research.
The human tissue authority (UK) tells you how you can do this:
http://www.hta.gov.uk/about_hta/donating_a_body_to_medical_science/how_to_donate_a_body.cfm
Sarah
9 Oct 07 at 10:58 am
“Whilst all medical schools very much welcome the offer of a donation, they cannot guarantee that they will accept the offer. There are medical criteria to be met”
This fascinates me. Has anyone read one of the donation leaflets and can shed any light on the criteria which would cause them to not accept your body? I guess highly infectious diseases may be one of them… but what else?
stu
9 Oct 07 at 11:20 am
Sarah: many thanks for the information
flibble
9 Oct 07 at 11:35 am
Stu (and Kouros), are you using “go to the grave” literally, or will you be cremated (which Google reckons is what happens to 70% of Brits)?
flibble has it right in my book; I’ll be dead, so you can do what you like with what’s left of me. Cremation seems a more efficient way of getting rid of the leftovers, and it feels like a waste to torch any stuff that could help save or improve peoples lives.
If you’d like a burial I can see more attraction in still having all your bits attached - even though the bits are going to go the same way as a cremation eventually, it’s a less destructive end so I’m wondering if that’s why you feel differently.
Mikey
9 Oct 07 at 11:49 am
I’m an organ donor, I also gave blood (lapsed a bit on the blood donations). I figured if some of my bits can keep a person alive after my death, then it gives a little meaning to my death.
I don’t like the idea of turning organ donor’s into an opt-out scheme, I think it should stay opt-in and just have more advertising to get the message across.
John
9 Oct 07 at 11:54 am
Mikey - oddly enough, I don’t want to be cremated. It doesn’t feel “right” to me, just like I don’t want to have my blood drained and be replaced by that gunky stuff to make me last slightly longer.
That’s kinda why I’m not bothered about giving up my organs - people are going to fuck about with my body so much anyway that I might as well.
Kouros
9 Oct 07 at 12:24 pm
I don’t want to be cremated either. It’s hugely polluting - I’m one of the people with mercury amalgam fillings and (unless I have all my teeth pulled beforehand) the toxins given off when those are heated are very bad. Have you ever noticed how few birds there are in the trees surrounding crematoria? Our local one is in woodland, and one a bright summer’s day it’s silent.
I want a cardboard coffin and to have a beech tree planted over me.
JG
9 Oct 07 at 2:23 pm
That sounds like my way of thinking, JG.
stu
9 Oct 07 at 2:36 pm
Yes. I was going to post that I wanted to be composted, but then I’d probably end up as chicken feed and start a whole new industrial-agriculture health scare!
sweavo
9 Oct 07 at 2:37 pm
Having, in my job, seen plenty of people waiting for transplants ( and most of them not getting one and not making it ) and having seen plenty of dead people, I have to say that I’d be quite happy to have any bit of me when I’m dead. It’d be a waste otherwise.
carrut
9 Oct 07 at 7:41 pm
That kinda puts it in perspective, carrut.
stu
9 Oct 07 at 7:44 pm
Most religions are technically about helping your fellow humans, in spite of added human teaching about killing unbelievers etc etc. That’s what spoils religions, really. If I’m dead, and I can help someone else to live, then so be it. They wont want my lungs or liver though;-)
lordhutton
9 Oct 07 at 7:51 pm
I used to be an embalmer, so have witnessed first hand the waste of human organs that could of saved others lives.
I’ve been on the donation register for years, but know alot of people who say they would be happy to donate, but don’t carry a card with them or haven’t registered, I guess they just don’t get round to it. I wonder if they’d get round to it, if they or someone they loved needed a transplant?
That’s why I totally agree with the opt-out scheme. It will force people to take action.
You won’t need anything once your dead, so I don’t get what the problem is?
Kath Kerrison
10 Oct 07 at 9:48 am