My dads first cousin received a Kidney transplant this weekend. As a family touched by kidney disease organ donation is a major cause that we support. My grandmother died in 2001 due to complications from Kidney disease about 10 years after receiving her donated kidney. It gave her another 10 years of life thanks to someones decision to donate.
My Dad has several family members currently undergoing dialysis including my Aunt. This usually means trips to a dialysis center 2-3 times a week for 4-5 hours of treatment. Although dealing with my RA is difficult, I can not imagine having to deal with Kidney failure.
The reason I'm bringing this up is that in Canada organ donators and organ receivers are not allowed to contact each other. Other than an anonymous letter, the organ donators family never knows how much that gift means to the family that received the organ.
My family has benefited so much, thanks to the donations of people we will never know.
This time, thanks to social media we know who's kidney we have received.
She was a 16 year old girl who was killed in a car accident. Her family made the decision to donate her organs and saved several lives, and improved the lives of several others. My Dad's cousin is aware of who this is and they hope to send a message to the family of the donator once he is a bit more stable.
If anyone has any questions about how to donate, or anything else you can email me at
justaplainsam@hotmail.com.
CBC The Current radio did an amazing documentary about donation and the contact between the recipient and the donors family. This may not be available to my USA readers Breathing With Sandra
3 comments:
It is so wonderful that you shared this about your family. So many organs go unused because there isn't enough awareness for organ donation. It is horrible to loose a family member unexpectedly and making the decision to donate in the middle of those emotions is overwhelming. I hope that everyone has a conversation with their family before tragedy strikes so the decision is a little easier. I am an RN on a kidney/liver transplant unit. It is so amazing to see people come in after years of dialysis and knowing that if they don't get an organ they will die. Recieving an organ isn't always an easy recovery but it is a new lease on life and people are so grateful.
Signed up on my license and had the talk with family members. If there is anything still usable, I'm all for helping someone else out. I hope awareness is growing about organ donation - it's such a generous last act.
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Thank you for sharing your family's story. I signed the donation card when it first became available on our driver's license and my family also knows what my wishes are. Anything that can be used, will be.
I have seen how kidney disease affects families. In fact, I have a friend who had a kidney transplant and she is still going strong 20 years later.
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