re: Organ Donation: Why don't more people do it?

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The Last Coco

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It's not the best article for sure but it's short enough not to take 15 min just to read it. I just really wanted to see if people aren't organ donors and why they aren't.

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but the moment of death is disputed.

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Where did you see this?

Btw, I'm an organ donor.

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I know that my family has had to make that exact decision several times recently. It hasn't been an issue but I can see how people grieving aren't in the best decision making mode. Ive had this discussion with all of my immediate family and most of my distant family

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This is the key to help family at a bad time of loosing a love one.

As a person that is in need of a heart and go to a heart transplant center once a month and see others that are in need, all my family are donators now. To see people before and after getting a heart transplant, is a sight to see.

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Real Pirate

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That's awesome that you've talked to your family about it. I think that is a major part is people don't want to talk about it. I can understand a will or a funeral because both of those can really hit a person and make them realize they are on the downward slope. But an organ donation is something you can decide when you are 16 and be done with it.

Because of this this and this and many more such cases.

my grandmothers life was saved because of a liver transplant, i will definitely donate.

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This article says that 18 people die everyday on the organ transplant waiting list, and just one organ donor can save or improve up to 50 peoples lives.

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Here's how it works: only certain kinds of injury before death lead people to a position where they can donate soft organs (heart, lungs, liver , kidneys, pancreas, etx). Moreover, when that person is brain dead and being kept alive by a ventilator, they have limited amounts of time to "match" someone for transplant. It's way more intense than matching for a blood donation ( exception is the liver, I believe), because the recipient needs to be safe ( otherwise their body would slowly calcify/ruin the new organ). The rate of people becoming brain death + matching these other people while also not having major infectious diseases (either long term like HIV or hepatitis c, or short term like a systemic bacterial infection) is lower than ideal for people on the list. Kidneys can be donated after death in special circumstances. I've seen it once in 5 or so years of being involved with these sorts of things. When you see the number "50" they include things like tendons, ligaments, heart valves (in non-heart donors), bones, skin, and corneas. These types of donation can be done in almost any type of death in people without current infectious disease. And they're done very commonly.
Lastly, outside of the number of instances that this arises, the family is contacted immediately after they have learned of their loved (usually) one's untimely passing and are asked if the deceased would've wanted to donate. They then explain the procedure. For organs, they make an incision from just under the neckline to just above the pubic bone and put a clamp on the aorta then take most internal organs out. Then they sew it back up. For the eyes, you have to explain that you're going to cut the front part (or all in some cases) of the person's eye out. This particularly freaks some people out. Then for bones and stuff, they have to explain how they basically make incisions from just below shoulder to just above wrist, just below hip to just above ankle. They'll forego the upper limb stuff if the person is to be buried in short sleeves. But in all cases , the body is put back together/sewn back up so that people at the funeral would never know that the person is missing their eyes, most of their bones, and most of their organs. It's not pleasant to think of your loved one being butchered like that after they, say, got in a car wreck merely hours before. The timing is a big factor, the thought of the process is another.
I agree though, I wish more people donated when eligible.

Shouldn't be optional in my opinion.

Agree with reasons already stated. Also, it just freaks some people out to have their organs harvested (per my own research). My personal opinion is it would be a whole lot better if the U.S. used auto-consent (you were automatically enrolled and have to opt out).

My dad has been on the liver transplant list for 2.5 years (alcoholic cirrhosis). There are also many people that disagree with giving an alcoholic a new liver.

I think many non-donors simply have not experienced a close friend or family member dying or having their life saved over an organ donation. And they can't empathize.