Teen Organ Donation | Teen Ink

Teen Organ Donation

September 30, 2009
By Maddie Hudak BRONZE, Hartville, Ohio
Maddie Hudak BRONZE, Hartville, Ohio
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

As of September 21, 2009, approximately 103,700 people in the United States were waiting on an organ donation. During the six-month period prior to this, only 7,250 received an organ donation according to United Networking for Organ Sharing data. At this rate it will take 15 years just to get through the people on this list, without adding anyone new. If more teen drivers were to agree to become organ donors, many additional lives could be saved. Teen drivers should become organ donors because it is simple, the organs can be used instead of wasted, and they can assist in saving lives.

When you think about becoming an organ donor you undoubtedly begin to think about treacherous paper work. In reality, this is not the case at all. You are simply asked to respond to one question, yes or no. Every student receiving a permit or license has the opportunity to become an organ donor. The simple yes or no question is asked at the same time that you submit your name, gender and height. It may seem morbid that you are deciding the future of your organs at a seconds notice, but when you learn about the pros and cons beforehand, you can feel confident in your answer and have complete faith in the commitment you are making.

When someone is in need of an organ, they take what they can get. Although it is uncomfortable to think about, the organs of a teenage driver would be more beneficial to an organ recipient than the organs of an adult. This is because teens tend to be in better physical health than adults. Being a donor would help ensure that your healthy organs were sent to someone in desperate need. The person receiving the organs would have a much better use for them than you would have had for them in your grave, just as a perfectly decent light bulb has no use in a broken lamp. Being an organ donor does not mean you are expected to die any time soon. Being an organ donor does not mean that you will be certain to save a life. Being an organ donor means you are willing to give the working parts of your body, no longer of any use to you, to someone else in order to improve, or possibly save, their life.

When you become an organ donor, you become a hero! Infants, adults, children, and other teens can be saved from the help of organ donors each and every day. Up to 60 organs from each donor can be transplanted to save lives, improve lives, and change lives forever. Your name may not be given to the receiver of your organs, but they will think about the person that just said “yes” and let them either continue to live, or live under more preferred circumstances. Your life on Earth would be over, but you would be remembered; you would be remembered as a hero.

By opening your eyes to becoming an organ donor, I hope you can now see how simple and sensible it can be to save lives. With your assistance, it is possible that someday one or more of the 103,700 lives desperately waiting on a list to survive will have their dreams fulfilled. Organ donation would not interrupt any attempt to save your life before your death, nor would it interrupt plans for an open casket funeral. So how will you reply when asked to become an organ donor? Will your answer be, “yes”, I will simply give my healthy organs to save a life, or “no”, I will take my organs with me to rot in my grave?


The author's comments:
I wrote this piece for my sophomore english class. We were assigined to write any persuasive paper. I chose the topic of teen organ donation because I believe it is a topic that is usually skiped over and ignored. Teens should understand organ donation so they can have an answer ready when they go to recieve their temps or license.

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This article has 6 comments.


rayda said...
on Apr. 11 2012 at 12:48 am
You should become an organ donor before you die and when you dead many people can live.

Soccer lover said...
on Feb. 22 2011 at 6:08 pm
I love this piece. I'm on the list for a liver transplant. My family and I feel very strongly about this topic. Since I was 8 i have been waiting. Now I'm 14. I can recieve an adult organ, but not enough people donate and they want a liver from a person about my size. Please donate to save a live.

MadMouse GOLD said...
on Feb. 9 2011 at 6:08 pm
MadMouse GOLD, Springfield, Missouri
15 articles 11 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
'The only things worth doing on the weekend are completely pointless and wastes of time."

I love your paper! Especially that last point about 'taking my organs with me to rot in my grave'. Keep up the good work!

Hello said...
on Oct. 22 2010 at 10:10 pm
Correction, so "there" aren't any health risks. 

Hello said...
on Oct. 22 2010 at 10:09 pm
I don't think the author is referring to live donor donations, often of kidneys or bone marrow.  This  article seems to focus post mortem donations, at which point the donor is already dead so their aren't any health risks. 

Melloves92 said...
on Oct. 15 2010 at 2:23 pm
Although donating organs is a nice gesture, I don't know if teens should be donating.  Our bodies are still growing, and we still need them in tact.  Perhaps wait until we reach the legal age?