First and foremost, Happy New Year! If one of your goals in 2025 is committing to doing a good deed, you’re in luck, as I’m going to tee up an easy one for you to check off your list. If you’re in the category of people who have already got this one covered, then congratulations, and please feel free to read on to reinforce why you made such a beneficial decision.
I’m referring to organ donation, and while upwards of 90 percent of Americans support the concept, there is a persistent discrepancy in how many of us take the step of registering to be an organ donor. Currently, about 55-60 percent of us are organ donors, and the reason that number isn’t higher is often attributed to a lack of awareness of the benefits, persistent myths and uncertainty about registering. I’ll cover all the facts you need about this easy commitment that allows you to save and change many lives.
The Why:
- There are over 100,000 people on the donation waiting list (with another one added every eight minutes), and unfortunately, an average of 17 on the wait list die each day.
- Our donation can help more people than we realize. Each organ donor can save up to 8 lives, but we can also improve the lives of up to 100 others. One fact that can be easily overlooked is that so much of what we will no longer need, beyond what we think of as organs, can be of vital service to others. This partial list includes corneas, skin, blood vessels, tendons, heart valves and bone.
The Myths:
- One of the most persistent misconceptions is, “If I’m an organ donor, doctors won’t try as hard to save my life.” The most straightforward response to this misinformation is that physicians are morally, legally and ethically bound by the Hippocratic Oath to save lives. That is their primary objective and sole focus. Additionally, the doctors treating a patient are generally unaware of a patient’s organ donor status, so it’s not even a factor for consideration.
- Age is another obstacle to increasing the percentage of organ donors, which can be people thinking they are either too young or too old. First, the young: anyone can sign up to be an organ donor, and if you’re under 18, a parent’s consent is needed. It’s worth mentioning that there are plenty young candidates on waiting lists who would benefit greatly and are not a match for adult-size organs. For anyone who thinks they are too old to be a donor (or in poor health), the decision on what can be used is based on the organ’s health, and there is no specific age cutoff. Also, even if you are sick, there may be plenty of ways your gift can still help, considering the long list of our anatomy that can be utilized.
- Some people may think that organ donation is against their religion. The fact of the matter is no major religion forbids donation. Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism consider the practice to be aligned with compassionate generosity and the alleviation of suffering.
- Another falsehood that tends to stay in circulation is that our donations only help the ‘rich and famous’ and not ordinary people we would most prefer to assist. In 1986, Congress established the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), a public-private network overseeing all the professional organizations involved throughout the U.S. in facilitating donors, waiting lists and recipients. The OPTN has contracted with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) since 1986, and the UNOS manages the database that determines need-based allocations throughout the U.S. No VIP membership or preferential treatment is offered based on wealth or status.
- Lastly, on this partial list of common myths is the concern that being an organ donor may create additional expenses for your loved ones. Rest assured, the donor or donor’s family never incurs any cost; any expenses are the responsibility of the recipient or the organization they are working with.
The How:
- Now for the easy part. Registering to be an organ donor takes less than a minute on the OrganDonor.gov site. Additionally, if you are interested in being a living donor, there is plenty of need. Typically, this involves a kidney, but additional options include the donation of part of a lung, pancreas or liver. The decision to be a living donor has a much different impact on daily life versus the more straightforward decision of making a gift after we are deceased, and there is more information to be found here on the Living Donation Facts page.
On a final and related note, for anyone interested in going to the next level beyond organ donation, there is the ever-present need for anatomical gifts, commonly referred to as donating your body to science. This topic is of particular relevance to me, as when my mother passed away from cancer in 2023, she decided to go this route and make an anatomical gift to UMass Hospital, which had offered so much assistance in the final year of my mom’s life. The benefits of this ultimate gift are far-reaching and provide tremendous value to medical students and researchers, educators, surgeons, healthcare professionals, and, of course, society at large. My mom loved that the knowledge gained by all the medical professionals involved in her final donation would be utilized to help benefit the science and treatment of future generations, in addition to the many people who would benefit from her organ and tissue donation. As such, in the most literal sense, organ and anatomical donations are the gifts that keep on giving and keeps others living.
Eric Bartosz is the founder of BAR40 and the author of the internationally acclaimed and bestselling book ‘BAR40: Achieving Personal Excellence.’ He lives in Center Valley with his wife Trish, daughter Riley and pug Piper, is an adjunct MBA professor at DeSales University and serves the community as an Upper Saucon firefighter, a board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley and a local race organizer. Eric is a 20+ year runner and racer and can often be found logging miles on the Saucon Rail Trail. Catch up on Eric’s latest Bar Talk columns here.
