To progress on the organ transplant front we need to be ready to talk about death
Irish Times | Orla Tinsley
Photo: A transplant operation: organs donated can be found unsuitable, for a variety of reasons
When the word “transplant†is mentioned for the first time it lights a fire beneath you. After years of degenerative illness there is suddenly a new goal: it means waiting for someone to die so that you can live. It’s confusing, it’s devastating, it’s enlightening and immediately you are propelled to do everything, and then nothing.
You swing like a pendulum between action and inaction until the reality sets in. Waiting. Waiting is the reality and you have no choice in the matter. You have to wait and work hard enough to be well to get on the list, then you wait and work hard enough to stay there.
You get angry at people. People who smoke, people who don’t take care of their bodies, people who take things for granted. You want to scream “You have one body. One. Mind it.†Then you get peace, you realise it’s all temporary anyway and control is impossible.
This might also be how it feels in that moment a family member is asked to decide whether to donate the organs of their loved one. Right now Ireland needs a proper, respectful public dialogue on organ donation and not a merely reactive one that underestimates the issues. We can all agree that more donations need to happen. What is less obvious is that we need to talk about death.
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| Photo: PA |
Photo: A transplant operation: organs donated can be found unsuitable, for a variety of reasons
Opinion: donation of organs should be a natural conclusion of the life cycle
When the word “transplant†is mentioned for the first time it lights a fire beneath you. After years of degenerative illness there is suddenly a new goal: it means waiting for someone to die so that you can live. It’s confusing, it’s devastating, it’s enlightening and immediately you are propelled to do everything, and then nothing.
You swing like a pendulum between action and inaction until the reality sets in. Waiting. Waiting is the reality and you have no choice in the matter. You have to wait and work hard enough to be well to get on the list, then you wait and work hard enough to stay there.
You get angry at people. People who smoke, people who don’t take care of their bodies, people who take things for granted. You want to scream “You have one body. One. Mind it.†Then you get peace, you realise it’s all temporary anyway and control is impossible.
This might also be how it feels in that moment a family member is asked to decide whether to donate the organs of their loved one. Right now Ireland needs a proper, respectful public dialogue on organ donation and not a merely reactive one that underestimates the issues. We can all agree that more donations need to happen. What is less obvious is that we need to talk about death.
Continue reading
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