Grant Hope, Donate Life!

The United Nations report for the year 2005 estimates that on average, 155,000 individuals die on a daily basis. Bluntly and logically speaking, approximately 155,000 hearts and livers, 310,000 kidneys, corneas, and lungs are vitally buried, whereas millions of organ seekers await patiently in cold hospital rooms.

His world turned into a sullen panoramic view. Heart still beating, but everybody is aware that the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are going to conquer its every cell, nucleus, and it shall rest without a beat, silent, beaten.

Scientists and physicians came a long way before they realized that “spare” organs may be donated from a healthy host to a receiver with organ failure. Unfortunately though, they did not quite consider the possibility that man’s selfishness and lack of awareness will eventually lead to an acute shortage in organs and the potential establishment of an “organ market”.

It leaves me with deep melancholy to plainly envision his fate as an additional name scribbled on the Death Waiting List. Though, he is not the only one; he is one of the hundred thousand names added yearly to passively wait for an available compatible organ.

My friends, this represents a true global fiasco, just like famine, drought, and natural disasters. The case scenario represented portrays the story of hundreds of thousands of patients who live their entire lives, waiting.

First and foremost, organ donation and reception is exclusively a medical act whereby an organ is harvested from a healthy or deceased host and re-implanted into a compatible host. It is almost impossible to find a compatible donor, but with the advent of progress in the field of medicine and particularly transplantation, it is quite possible to perform transplantations with minimal unexpected odds.

The peculiar issue to ponder about is the issue death. It goes without saying that when a living creature dies, the event is accompanied by a rapid cessation of organ system functions. Moreover, our fate as organic beings is to decay passively and provide a source of nutrients for earthly worms and maggots. Death is inevitable, and I dare any of you to find another interpretation to the Biology of death.

… So we part our lovely planet, and we take our organs with us, being unaware that their continuity through implantation in another person’s body may be the only chance for survival.

The global trend of shortage in donated organs versus an acute demand for transplantations has generated a serious crisis. Earth is an overpopulated planet, and organs are available within each and every one of us, and eventually, we will all part this lovely planet as many of us did, but the question remains: will we take our organs with us?

“No one specified how we return to earth, whether we should return with a full body or not, so it doesn’t make a difference if we get buried missing an organ or two, especially if this was beneficial for someone in need”, said Mouayyad Al-Azem, a senior Clinical Laboratory Science student at AUST.

Like many of the interviewees, and according to the National Organization for Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation (NOOTDT) statistics, 54% of Lebanese citizens are willing to donate one or more organs, with 22% of those who oppose the idea conceding that they think it is not religiously approved. Well, on June 26, 2008, religious figures from all sects gathered with medical doctors as part of the Science Café held in Beirut and entirely agreed that organ and tissue donation is not only religiously accepted, but is also promoted as a noble humanitarian act. So what is the cryptic factor that is causing such national and international medical riot?

To scrutinize the origin of the problem, I roamed the AUST campus and got in contact with family and friends, trying to figure out and understand what happens between our fervent enthusiasm to donate organs to others and the actual execution of the act.

One simple question was asked: Will you donate your organs and why?

The responses I got were highly heterogeneous, with a surprising 90% of interviewees willing to donate their organs.

“Organs without a soul to replenish are like fish with no water, so why keep them buried if they can potentially save others?” exclaimed Kristel Kerbage, a senior CLS student at AUST.

On the other hand, our colleague Hiba Khoury saw that the general trend of apprehension regarding this topic comes from the mere visualization of death and harvesting your organs. My very best friend Claudia Matta told me that she would be pleased to donate her organs, yet expressed how gloomy it felt to simply think about it- which only highlights further that the origin of the crisis lies in the mere thought of death ahead of time.

Maysam Yahya, an AUST graduate and member of the Graphic Design department at AUST, who also happens to be my sister, claimed that she has no problem donating her organs but will never accept it happening to a dear or beloved one.

“Yes I will donate my organs for a simple reason; to give a chance for an unfortunate person to live a healthy and prosperous life”, says Rabih Haddad, a CLS Junior student.

Though, of the very few people who rejected to donate his organs is Paul Aoun, a CLS student from AUST. Paul explained to me that he cannot accept the idea of giving away any of his organs to somebody else.

In fact, the dream about a coordinated effort to supply organs to every person in medical need is not an effort to form banks of human spare parts. It is rather a quest to end the agony of thousands of patients, to alleviate their unbearable pains, and to end the unlawful manipulation (sale) of human organs.

Now imagine yourselves in the shoes of a human being whose survival is a matter of how many minutes pass by before an organ can be supplied. Believe me, you wouldn’t want to be one of these patients, but nothing will assure you that you’re safe.

“It is a very simple choice: contribute to more dust or contribute to a needy person,” explained my uncle, Joe Fawaz, a NASA engineer, “and nothing is more humanitarian than to bring hope and stamp a smile on the face of a desperate person with a promise of a new or extended life, and the best part of it is that it doesn’t cost you anything!”

“My life had changed dramatically after I received the new kidney”. “A stranger gave my child the chance to live a painless life”. “I am blessed to be able to grant others a part of me that will stay in this world after I have gone”. “I am a donor, I am a hero!”

Let us hear more of these inspirational words and help in this noble act of authentic altruism.

You don’t really need to donate money to go to heaven, simply donate organs; grant others hope, donate life!

By Lamis Yahya, CLS Senior