Kindness is Becoming an Organ Donor

Kindness is attentive, considerate, friendly, and thoughtful. Kindness sees a need and fills it. Sometimes that need is commonplace like delivering a meal or writing a letter. Sometimes it requires more of a conscious effort like becoming an organ donor.

Becoming an organ takes more conscious effort because you have to think about death. Your death. And that is not a popular topic to dwell on.

There is a huge need for organs. Sure, it might sound creepy, but it is kind

113,000 people are on the organ donor transplant waiting list in the US according to July 2019 statistics. 20 people die each day before receiving a transplant. Only 36,528 transplants were done in 2018. There is clearly a lack of organs.

95% of adults agree with organ donation, but only 58% have signed up.

Did you know that one donor can save eight lives?

I live in California and so am interested in California stats. The following info came from the DMV.CA.Gov site:

• More than 21,000 Californians are waiting for a second chance at life.
• About 20% of those nationwide waiting for an organ transplant are Californians

Go here for more nationwide stats. 

Sign up today.

1. Driver’s License. It is easy to sign-up for this when you apply for or renew your driver’s license (or identification card).
2. Health App. You can sign up via the health app on your iPhone.
3. State Donor Registry. It is easy and quick to register with your state’s donor registry. 
4. Tell your family. Make sure you tell your family, your wishes. Talk to them even if they are resistant to the idea.

Read this book: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadaversby Mary Roach. This book shows scientific contributions and ways cadaver research has impacted modern life.

Along with cadavers, the protagonists of Roach’s book are the doctors, technicians, and environmentalists who labor over decaying flesh for larger causes. Underlying the eleven chapters of Roach’s book is her clear-eyed belief that, despite the perceived indignity of dismemberment, the fate of cadavers may be better than that of corpses. In its usefulness for organ donation, science, and the environment, a cadaver is a “superhero.” Quote taken from ENotes.Com

Here is a video review of the book.

If you want you to donate your whole body, you’ll need to go to a local hospital to fill out extensive papers  That is something I want to do as I think we don’t need more coffins  I will not be in my body after I die  I like the idea of being helpful, even after I pass from this earth.

Your Turn . . . Are you an organ donor? If not, why not? … Have you thought about being a whole-body donor?

You can practice being kind by leaving me a comment. 

Please leave me an idea or two that I can add to my acts of kindness list. The idea can be intentional or random.

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Want to know what other acts of Kindness are on the list? Go to my Landing Page . . . Scattering Kindness: A 31 Day Adventure of Intentional & Random Acts of Service.  

Previous #Write31Days Topics

• MORE vs less: 31 Days of Decluttering 2017
• Finding Laughter: 31 Days of Writing 2015 – Landing Page
• 31 Days of Finishing 2014: Table of Contents & What it is About

Thanks go to Elizabeth Symington for making my #Write31Days button and basic graphic for the kindness quotes. Elizabeth is writing a 31 days series on Summer of Service in Yosemite.