Every year, thousands of sick patients await life-saving organ transplants. Sadly, many of these people die waiting for an organ, while most suffer needlessly and in many cases incur significant healthcare costs for temporary treatments while they wait for a transplant. This painful reality results from a critical shortage of organ donors, mostly due to a general lack of awareness about organ donation. While some are unfamiliar with how to register as a donor, many are completely unaware of organ donation as an option.
I first became aware of this issue when my grandmother, near death, received a heart transplant. As a result of caring, selfless organ donors, my grandmother and several other transplant recipients were given new leases on life. Inspired by my grandmother’s story, I believed it was my vocation to plunge into this critical issue.
In 2009, only 28,000 out of 110,000 patients (about 1 out of 4) in need of a transplant received an organ. With over 100,000 U.S. patients currently waiting for an organ transplant and more than 4,000 new patients added to the waiting list each month, I am worried about the future loss of life that the trend suggests.
Hoping to provide the same miracle that my grandmother received to others needing transplants, I founded the Donate Life Club during my sophomore year of high school at Jesuit. Our foremost mission is to spread organ donation awareness and to educate students toward pursuing this important cause. Students are further encouraged to discuss our message and cause with family and friends. In its first year, the club was very successful at Jesuit, with 64 members and the registration of over 45 organ donors. Amazingly, each donor has the potential to save up to eight lives.
In the organization’s second year, we expanded from our Jesuit roots to clubs at five schools, including high schools in London and California, growing to almost 150 members. The Jesuit club has developed an ambitious schedule this year, with a scheduled lecture from a transplant surgeon from Southwest Transplant Alliance and a trip to the local transplant hospital. Our objective is to create a self-sustaining organ donor awareness club that will continue to grow and prosper while optimizing organ donor awareness and raising funds for donor families.
Potentially, more than a dozen lives can be saved by a single donor, who may have viable organs, blood, and tissue to offer to a sick, bed-ridden patient who desperately needs a second lease on life. Since a single person can make an enormous impact, I challenge all of you to get involved and to fight for a brighter tomorrow.
Please contact senior Michael Holder for more information.
