Take a Breath,then Think of Him

As I sit to write this blog today, a good friend and long time neighbor is in the hospital waiting and praying for a lung transplant. He is not an old man, he is only in his mid 40's. He is a family man, a husband, a dad and a salt of the earth good person. He is one of the mentally strongest people I know and he has fought the good fight to stay alive to be there for his family.

Now he is at the mercy of the organ transplantation system. He is at the top of the list and he has a fairly rare blood type; so far, he has waited over a year for his miracle to come. Our friend has Cystic Fibrosis and literally has not had one day of breathing easy in his life. His family has endured year after year of watching his ability to take a breath decline. He has spent time every year in the hospital, and much time every day coping with all of the problems CF brings. Through all of this he has remained positive and strong and determined more than ever to stick around for the long haul.

When someone has a tragic accident and ends up "brain dead," the family is placed in the position of having to make a decision as to whether or not to donate his/her organs. If the person has designated on their driver's license that they want to be an organ donor, perhaps this takes the onus off of the family--the decision is already made. It must then be hard to watch the loved one whisked away to surgery and to know that they will lose parts of their body before they are laid to rest, but if you think about the miracle that can come from this awful circumstance, perhaps it makes it a little bit easier to take.

If you knew my friend the way we know him, you would realize what a miracle that would be. He wants so desperately to live and live as full and as long a life as he possibly can. His daughters deserve to have their Dad around for as long as possible. And his wife has kept the home fires burning when he has spent time every year in the hospital. She has kept the family running, kept up the hope and prayers that someone will save her husband in the midst of their own tragedy.

I urge you to become an organ donor if you are not one already. It is a lot easier for me to be one because I know someone who would greatly benefit from everyone being a donor. It makes it real for me and it makes it clear that it is the right thing to do. As long as people are dying senseless accidental deaths every day, and they are, why not try to make something positive come out of something so negative and horrible?

I know there are some that for religious reasons are opposed to the idea of donating organs, but I ask you to honestly explore this question: if your child was in need of an organ transplant in order to live, would you have the luxury of putting your religion before your child's life? Would you want a potential donor match to opt not to donate an organ to your child because of their religion or yours? It is a lot easier to apply this in theory than in reality when your own family is at stake.

When you have to renew your driver's license next time, think of my friend and all the thousands of other people waiting for a chance to renew their lives with the unselfish gift of organ donation. It is the ultimate in charity and selflessness. If you are already an organ donor, thank you. You are my hero.