Organ Donation: Life After Death

If Life is Meaningful Why Not Death?

Jash Oza, a two-and-a-half-year-old, innocent boy, and the apple of the eyes of all his loved ones in Surat gifted new lease of life to five others including two four-year-old children from Russia and Ukraine. On December 9, Jash fell from the second floor balcony of his neighbor’s house in Surat. He suffered a brain haemorrhage and, on December 14, doctors declared him brain dead.

Fondly called as ‘Babu’, when left his parents bereaved, devastated and lifeless, how difficult it must have been for them to decide and agree for the cadaver donation that none can even imagine. But thanks to the NGO, Donate Life which made the efforts to bring hope and survival to five more lives. His heart and lungs were transported to Chennai within 160 minutes and heart was transplanted into a 4-yr-old child from Russia and lungs given to a 4-yr-old from Ukraine. Kidneys were transplanted into two girls and liver was donated to a 2-year- old girl. The resplendence, Jash has left behind is eternal, or we can say Jash has gone nowhere he is still alive, his heart is still beating and eyes are shining as brightly as ever. He is going to live forever. We salute to the parents for contributing to this noble and altruistic cause.

Every year 5 lakh Indians lose their lives waiting for an organ and  more than half a million Indians are  in dire need of an organ transplant- kidney, liver, heart, pancreas and so on and it is estimated that 90% of patients waiting to receive an organ die without getting one. Kidney transplants are the most common in India and only one out of 30 patients receives one.  What is exasperating is that the second most populous country in the world has a donation rate of only 0.26 per million people that means only one out of 4 million people chooses to be an organ donor. And this wide gap in the country is due to myriad of myths, cultural beliefs, traditions and ritual practices.

With the increasing number of deaths due to organ failure, it becomes imperative to get the low-down of this humane attempt for saving lives. The most popular myth about organ donation is that if we are cremated or buried without our organs, in the next life we are born without these, which is completely an absurd notion. How one can carry his organs to his next birth if one can’t carry any of his possessions? Most of the religions teach the principle that a body is just like apparel and soul is immortal. It’s the soul that dons the body as apparel and leaves when the life span is over. None of the religions object to organ donation and transplantation. On the contrary, religions endorse the act of giving and donating and what bigger form of giving can there be than giving life. A pervasive notion about organ donation is the belief that patients will not be treated carefully when required if they are registered organ donors.  A recent survey conducted by a national newspaper revealed that 28% of a total of 641 urban respondents believed that organ donors will not receive any lifesaving treatment while 18% believed that their bodies will be mutilated which is a fallacy.

Interesting Read: Can Gratitude Be Enforced?

There are nearly 300 deaths everyday due to organ failure and to combat this number our country needs organ donors. Out of the 9.5 million deaths in India every year, at least one lakh are believed to be potential donors; however less than 200 actually choose to become donors. The remaining about 99,800 are lost. At any given time, a major city in the country has 8-10 brain deaths in the various ICUs and the conversion of these brain dead patients into donors can take care of the long waitlist of end stage organ failure patients. Organ donation is a kind and noble act that harms none but helps many.

Organ donation promotes a noble, humane spirit in society. It means that one is desirous of extending one’s spirit to others even after one’s death. Each of us can save 8 lives and we believe this is the best legacy any of us can leave behind as many unfortunate ones are waiting for an organ to embrace a fresh lease of life.

While ending this blog, I am leaving you to take time off and ruminate over this: “If life is meaningful why not Death?”

Let’s pledge to be an organ donor!