Why we need to educate people about Organ Donation | Az’s Blog
Yesterday I got talking to an old boy in a pub (he’s 91!) and we chatted about several things but one thing he said got my back up a little. He asked about my wife (after seeing my wedding ring) and I told him about Donna and that she had died waiting for a transplant. I explained that she had already received two and was waiting for her third. His response was “well, just goes to show that we shouldn’t play god!” To which I explained that, whether you believe in god or mother nature, we are designed to do exactly what we do and that is to be inquisitive, learn, adapt and try things out. Its in our nature to do these things!
He went on to lecture me about how our lives are mapped out from the day we are born and shouldn’t be messed with.
Unfortunately he is not alone in this as Kirstie Tancock has been finding out whilst doing her awareness stalls (The link to her post is at the bottom of this page). She blogged this week that she has met opposition from some people who feel organ donation is not right…
She said:
“I had thought most people wanted to donate but just didn’t get round to doing it.
But actually some people just don’t like it, others don’t agree with the principle, and indeed some people said they didn’t agree with transplant at all.
This thoroughly upset me in many ways. Does this mean they don’t agree with me being alive today? Do I bend all the ethics and rules? How can people disagree with something that saves lives and improves the quality of people’s lives? Is the idea of organ donation that horrific to some people?”
Kirstie also discovered some things I have come up against a few times. Religion being one. Often people feel that certain religions don’t believe in organ donation when in fact ALL the major religions are for it!
Another one is “they won’t be able to use anything from me” or “my organs are all wasted”…nonsense, let the professionals decide!
Many say they just haven’t gotten around to it and a lot of people simply don’t like to think about their death.
It seems there are a lot of common misconceptions surrounding organ donation and I think its high time we did something about it. We need to come up with a way to mass educate people about it and get them signed up to the register. I for one absolutely loved the Vinnie Jones CPR video for the British Heart Foundation. Not only was it funny as hell but it was simple, informative and hard to forget! This is the road we need to go down I think as the hard hitting organ donation adverts are a little too hard hitting, even for me sometimes.
Im open to ideas on how we can educate people in the comments below or you can contact me HERE.
In the mean time please keep sharing our Facebook page around http://facebook.com/DonnasDreamCampaign and why not join us on Twitter http://twitter.com/DonnasDream
As promised, heres the link to Kirsties Blog:
KIRSTIE TANCOCK: We must face death to save precious life
Kirstie is also an Advocate for Live Life then Give Life who are a very vibrant and well established Organ Donation Charity.
Love, Love
Az x
If you have been inspired by this story please consider joining the NHS Organ Donor Register by clicking the banner below:
About the Author
Az Mansell Has Written 55 Articles For Us!
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