by Renee Dawson

Created on: February 15, 2008

She is a brand new born baby. She is beautiful and perfect. Her Mommy and Daddy take her home and show her off to family and friends. Two days later, she is back in the hospital. Something is wrong, she has non-stop vomiting and diarrhea. Her parents are told that something is wrong with her intestines. They remove part of her small intestines and she seems to be better. The next day, she develops bleeding issues and her spleen has to be removed. This baby is less than a month old and she has had two major surgeries.

By the time she is six months old, she will need a liver transplant. Her parents take her to a hospital in Chicago and wait. During this time, her entire blood volume will be replaced by blood transfusions sixteen times. One day, it was replaced three times. Finally, the little baby gets a liver. Her health improves and all goes back to normal. She still requires a feeding tube, but she is growing and getting stronger every day.

If this story doesn't make you want to become an organ donor, I am not sure that anything will. These parents have been given their little baby girl back. This little baby girl has been given a life. Who will she be when she grows up? Only God knows. That donor will always be a part of her.

It is a very difficult thing to approach a family when their loved one is on life support with no hope of surviving to ask them about organ donation. However, if a family sits down before the life threatening crisis strikes and discusses organ donation, that awkward moment can be avoided. It is important that your family know your decision regarding organ donation. Both my spouse and I have it on our driver's license that we wish to donate any part of us that can be used. Education and discussion are the key to letting your family know your decision and you knowing their wishes.

Some people consider it to be mutilation. I consider it to be life giving. I have seen cystic fibrosis people who barely have enough strength to take their next breath, who have gotten a lung transplant, run in a marathon. It is a life giving move. One of the most important decisions a person can make in their lives is if they want to give someone an organ, when they no longer need it.

There is a wonderful saying out by an organ donation organization that says, "Don't take your organs to heaven, God knows we need them here."

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