Organ Donor? Why or why not?

Personally, I dread the thought of somebody like Mickey Mantle getting my liver and the mortuary people having to stuff my body with balled up newspapers or paper bags so my chest cavity doesn't look caved in during the open casket ceremony. Just because some rich guy who has drank or smoked his life away is about to croak they should not have a right to all the organs I worked so hard to keep healthy. The only way I would give an organ away is if it specifically was going to a family member. We have people who spend the majority of their lives on waiting lists and just because they don't have the needed pull (ie, money, fame) they never get the organ they need. But hey, this is just my opinion.

[Spec2 Girl]

I have chosen not to become an organ donor, mainly for the reason that I used to work in a hospital in Sydney and I heard how some of the bodies were treated after death when they were organ donors. I’m sure that it is the minority, but it still really put me off.

The other reason is that part of me thinks that they might try a little less harder to save your life if you were an organ donor as your organs would be of use to someone who might be in a less critical state. Again, just my thought.

I would also hate to think of any of my loved ones bodies being cut open and organs removed.

But as you say Sham365, for a family member or a loved one, it would be a different story.

You probably all think I’m incredibly selfish, but that’s the way it feels for me.

[V.S.]

I think its just silly to think that people who work at saving lives would care less about you for being a donor.


After you're dead, it doesn't matter. You're not going to look or feel good no matter how your organs are treated. Do you want to help people or not? I personally don't care wether you do or not, but I do want everyone to recognize they're giving up the chance to save lives for whatever reasons.


I checked the little box on my license application. Other people give to some charity that probably just goes into the pockets of rich people, I have a heart on my license. Good deal imo.

[Spec2 Girl]

Originally posted by V.S.
I think its just silly to think that people who work at saving lives would care less about you for being a donor.


After you're dead, it doesn't matter. You're not going to look or feel good no matter how your organs are treated. Do you want to help people or not? I personally don't care wether you do or not, but I do want everyone to recognize they're giving up the chance to save lives for whatever reasons.

This is why I put that it was MY opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own.

[KatWoman]

I didn't check the box on my license because 1. most same reasons FTO stated and 2. Cancer, heart disease, diabetes and a few other "wonderful" things run on both sides of my family. Who knows how healthy my organs will be by the time my number is up? I already have a heart condition so there goes that one off the list.

[V.S.]

Originally posted by FTO Girl
This is why I put that it was MY opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own.

which is exactly why I said I don't care what you decide to do.

[SickLude]

the only way i would give up an organ, is if my immediate or very close family member needed it to stay alive. whos to say that they dont deserve a second chance at life? if they improve upon their life, then thats good. if they dont, than thats ok too. i gave someone else a chance to live that they previously did not have.

[taranaki]

Curious topic...I ticked yes,as a matter of principle(principle being,if either of my kids got sick,I'd hope that there would be a saviour for them).But the more I think about it,the more I wonder about the potential scenario.....I'm on life support,in a 'coma'.Aware of everything ,but unable to communicate,Listening to some doctor telling my distraught family that there is no hope,and that I have consented to be a donor,and that my wishes will not be fulfilled if I am kept alive artificially for much longer..............

[V.S.]

Originally posted by SickLude
the only way i would give up an organ, is if my immediate or very close family member needed it to stay alive. whos to say that they dont deserve a second chance at life? if they improve upon their life, then thats good. if they dont, than thats ok too. i gave someone else a chance to live that they previously did not have.

so is someone you don't know not worthy of life?

[Tireburner]

I'm dead... and getting creamated.. so if some part of me can save another person's life, why be selfish?? Of all the good deeds, you couldn't do better!!!

[jinushaun]

Wow sure are a lot of selfish and inconsiderate people on AF!! I think that's just terrible.

And not all people who need organ transplant are drunks and smokers! There are innocent kids out there who are unfortunate enough to be born without fully functioning organs. There are people who have been eaten alive by cancer who need transplants.

Your comments reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where Kramer tries to help Jerry come up with a new routine. Kramer suggests that Jerry complain about having to let ambulances have the right of way. Kramer's like, why should I pull over for a guy who had a heart attack because he's been stuffing himself full of cheeseburgers all his life? That's just looking at it from the wrong angle people!

And who cares how they bloody treat you after you died. You're dead! They could bloody mutilate and dismember me for all I care, I'm not feeling it! They could even use me as manure or animal feed.

As for the argument of whether they'd try harder to keep you alive knowing you're an organ donor... that's a toss up.

I am glad there are people like jinushaun out there who are willing to let there bodies be ripped open and mutilated in order to keep the organs fresh for some smokers body. If it wasn't for people like him all the non-donor out there may be forced to have their organs taken the second they expire...ala France. Did anybody else see the story on ABC news yesterday about the woman who suffered a stroke? The paramedics pronounced her dead but the old lady came back alive when they were zipping up the body bag! And this was yesterday! She eventually died, but if she was younger w/ healthy organs they might have already started cutting her open.

"Hey, Billy, didn't you say your uncle needed a new heart? No need to go to India, I got one right here. Waiting list? What waiting list?"

There is a very real fear that paramedics will not do everything in their power to save an organ donor. And there also is a valid fear that organs don't go to those who needs them anyway. Rich people get them, while all the little kids born with defective hearts get the Make a Wish Foundation or a monkey/pig/baboon organ in some sci-fi experiment. But jinushaun can donate. Please, please, donate. Hell, by the time he passes on they may have some nice, shiny silicone parts to put in his hollowed out sternum instead of paper bags and the old gym socks they found laying around on the mortuary floor. To each his own.

All I am saying is keep me together. I don't want my kidney going on some Mexican vacation without me.

[Tireburner]

Originally posted by Sham365
I don't want my kidney going on some Mexican vacation without me.

If the person has your kidney, then in effect, aren't you still alive, and going on that Mexican vacation too???

[KatWoman]

Originally posted by jinushaun
Wow sure are a lot of selfish and inconsiderate people on AF!! I think that's just terrible.

Easy, Killer! You have a valid point in that once you are dead, you don't feel anything and you're not even around to care. But what about those left behind? For someone to see the body of their loved one in such a condition may be more than they can handle. We all are going to die someday, like it or not. Alot of times a new organ only extends a person's life by short time...and in that time they are still on anti-rejection drugs, going thru rejection and more operations, and in some cases dying a more miserable death than they would have had they not had the extra surgeries and meds. Being an organ donor is very personal decision, and I'm sure no one wants anyone else dictating to them what is right or not for them and to be told they are selfish depending on what they decide.

What about rich people? Shouldn't they donate their money to poorer people? Why should some have money and some not? I know it's two different things, but we can come up with 100 situations like this where one can say "you should share/donate and if not you're selfish."

[V.S.]

I don't know how it works where you live, but afaik the hospitals in my area don't go pawning off organs on the black market. Any organs would goto whoever was on the top of a waiting list, which would really take the motivation out of any paramedic killing me.

Sham365, defining death is hard, but I don't see what it has to do with this topic. How long should the paramedics treat the woman who appears dead before they're "sure"? Should we not bury anyone until we smell their flesh rotting?