This past Friday at Rotary Club, we were addressed by Zola Burgess, Community Outreach Coordinator of Mid-South Transplant Foundation.
Well, Mrs. Burgess had no way of knowing as she addressed the crowd, but being an organ donor has been a passion of mine since I was a teenager.
At every point she made about the importance of signing up to be a donor, I was mentally jabbing my hand in the air with an emphatic “Yeah!”, “Yes!”, “Tell’em Girl!”
See, my journey began when I was 16. When I received my driver’s license from the “Roll Tide” state of Alabama, I had the choice of registering to become an organ donor. I checked the “yes” box on the form. Well, back in those stone-age days of yonder, we didn’t receive our hard copy licenses the same day we passed the test. So I went home and waited.
When the day came and I received my card, I, like most teenagers, couldn’t wait to show it off to my family.
Boy, oh boy, did I not get the response I was expecting.
My dearest Mama took a look at it and about fainted.
“You signed up to be an organ donor?!”
Her statement/question reeked with disbelief and horror.
To cut a long story short, my mother’s incredulity came because if “God forbid I died, and was an organ donor, I wouldn’t have an open casket”. Yup. You read that right. My mother, an RN, in all her southern greatness, couldn’t picture the funeral of her teenage daughter occurring without an open casket.
I’m not even going to delve into the number of reasons to not be an organ donor that might actually make sense to a rational person, so let’s just say her “naysaying” and irrational reason, made me dig in deeper on the fact that I wanted to be one.
(By the way, since then, I’ve decided to be cremated -after donations, of course- so if I go before my poor Mama, she’s in for a real shock at my funeral.)
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my Mama. She is a hero in my eyes. But this is something I wholeheartedly believe she got wrong.
Currently, there are over 100,000 Americans waiting for a life-saving transplant, and more than 4,000 of those people are in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. 17 people die each day waiting on organs.
But.
One organ and tissue donor can save up to eight lives, restore sight to two people, and enhance the lives of more than 75 people.
Well, seems like a no brainer to me. See no matter my crusade against the injustices in this life. Disregard the fact that I can write hundreds of stories informing citizens of the goings-on in their community. All of that can be forgotten, but this is a gift that goes far beyond me.
When God decides it’s my time to come home, I’ll gladly take His hand, but if I can also give a prolonged life to those who are suffering…well, it isn’t like I’ll need those “parts” anymore.
So, ponder it hard if you will, but consider being a life-giver today. Sign up at www.midsouthtransplant.org.
