When I'm Dead They Can Take What They Want
How many times have you heard that, with regards to organ donation?
Or have you heard "Oh yes, I carry a donor card but they're not having my eyes"?
Personally speaking, once I'm dead, nothing in my body is of any use to me so, if it is going to help someone to prolong their life they I'm happy to help. I have proudly carried a donor card since I was 14 years old and have informed my family of my wishes.
The Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday (11th April 2010) that a blunder created by "database errors" meant that details collected from driving licence applications since 2004 (or even as early as 1999) had been mixed up after being transferred to the NHS database. Some organs will have been taken/donated without the appropriate consent and other organs have not been taken/donated, meaning that lives may have been lost as a consequence.
I am ASTOUNDED that important information such as this can be 'mixed up' or 'lost', especially after the subscription palaver we have to go through at work each year to register with the Information Commissioner (do NOT get me started on certain people in privileged positions who 'lose' pen drives or 'forget' their laptop when on a train). However, it has highlighted the need for donors once again. If, for any reason, my daughter had needed a transplant when she had most of her kidney removed when she had Cancer then I'd have been stamping my feet and yelling loudly until I/she got what she needed, even through it probably would have meant that another family had lost their child for that to happen.
I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is to make yourself available for organ donation, if you are eligible. Do you carry a donor card or are you on the official register? If not, why not? Do you think there should be an auto-opt-out system rather than the opt-in system in place currently?
Or have you heard "Oh yes, I carry a donor card but they're not having my eyes"?
The Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday (11th April 2010) that a blunder created by "database errors" meant that details collected from driving licence applications since 2004 (or even as early as 1999) had been mixed up after being transferred to the NHS database. Some organs will have been taken/donated without the appropriate consent and other organs have not been taken/donated, meaning that lives may have been lost as a consequence.
I am ASTOUNDED that important information such as this can be 'mixed up' or 'lost', especially after the subscription palaver we have to go through at work each year to register with the Information Commissioner (do NOT get me started on certain people in privileged positions who 'lose' pen drives or 'forget' their laptop when on a train). However, it has highlighted the need for donors once again. If, for any reason, my daughter had needed a transplant when she had most of her kidney removed when she had Cancer then I'd have been stamping my feet and yelling loudly until I/she got what she needed, even through it probably would have meant that another family had lost their child for that to happen.
I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is to make yourself available for organ donation, if you are eligible. Do you carry a donor card or are you on the official register? If not, why not? Do you think there should be an auto-opt-out system rather than the opt-in system in place currently?