Organ Donation

I'm an organ donor and if circumstances warrant it, I will donate the organs of any of my loved ones unless they told me otherwise - which they haven't. I believe donating still useable organs is wonderful and I know those who have benefitted from organ donation, both from live donors and deceased. I don't think it should be mandatory, however. This is where "free choice" really does come in and it is their body and they have the right to choose what to do with it when they are done with it.

We have a lovely pipe organ in one of our churches and unfortunately, only one or two people still know how to use it!

 

1. No.
2. Up to the person.
3. No. (I'm not done with them yet! - Not to mention they won't take them anyway. My disease makes my innards unacceptable for transplantation.)

However, my brother-in-law (wife's brother) is a godly man, pastor, husband, father, and grandfather (he just turned 60). He was diagnosed with a terminal liver disease a little over a year ago. They put him on the transplant list and the 3rd liver that came available was a perfect match.

He is now healthy again and back to pastoring, preaching, teaching, singing, and winning souls to Christ.

I have to admit I had reservations about transplants, and have an advanced directive restricting my medical care from anything extraordinary, but I have to admit in his case it worked and he is able to go on ministering to those in need.

 

Our friends lost their 18 year old son to a skateboarding accident - their only child. They donated his organs and in a wonderful twist, this boy's dad needed bone to do a fusion of some vertabrae that were damaged from wrestling years ago and he was able to get the last of his son's donations - bone - to do the fusion. So dad is walking around with some of his son in his spine. It was really a touching thing when it was confirmed that they could do this!

 

AND as a reminder of something similar, I just got an email from the Bone Marrow Registry which I signed up for a number of years ago. It seems I have a very rare protein in my blood that makes it that I can't donate to most people but for someone who needs it, I may be the only one who can donate to them.