Take out your license. Study it. Look at how awkward you looked in high school when that picture was taken. Do you still weigh the same amount? Have you gotten taller? Now check one more thing. Are you an organ donor?
If so, feel free to skip this column, and go buy yourself some ice cream. Seriously, you deserve it for signing up to potentially save lives.
If you’re not a registered donor, then what the hell is wrong with you?
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are currently almost 120,000 people on the waiting list for an organ or tissue transplant, and on average 22 people die each day while waiting for a transplant.
Meanwhile, precious organs are being wasted through the cremation or burial of unregistered bodies everyday. At least the worms get to enjoy the rotting, potentially life-saving organs of unregistered corpses since living humans aren’t able to.
All major religions of the world support organ donation. If not for religious or health purposes, then why not donate your organs? They don’t serve much good to a corpse six feet underground, but could be the difference between life and death for somebody’s daughter in need of a kidney or a man with vision loss who could have his sight restored.
Kidneys, lungs, bones, corneas and many other pieces of the human anatomy can be salvaged post-mortem to save up to eight lives or heal up to 50 individuals in the case of tissue donations, according to donatelife.net.
Just over half of the United States’ population is composed of registered donors, and 54 percent of Michigan’s population has signed up. You should sign up, too.
Registering as an organ donor takes just a matter of minutes, and can be done online at Michigan.gov or in person at your local secretary of state office. The deceased’s family is not charged for the procedure of harvesting organs, nor does the removal of organs scar the body in such a way as to prevent an open casket funeral.
Next time you’re sitting in the IRC between classes, take a break from browsing Facebook to register as an organ donor.
A few minutes of your downtime could save lives.