English 101
17 September 2012
Life as we know it:
The Importance of Organ Donation
William James, an American psychologist and philosopher, once said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” November 21, 2010 stated out excellent, but then was turned upside down. My uncle was trying to get a hold of my mom and dad, when he finally called me to tell me that my grandpa, my dad’s father, had died that morning from having a heart attack in his car while he was at the farmer’s market. “What?” I questioned him, “What are you talking about, I just talked to him last week!” There was no time to think, I immediately started to cry, as if my whole world just came crashing down. I kept thinking to myself, how am I going to tell my dad that his father just died. Since my grandparents lived in Florida at the time, my family packed our bags and headed down there for the memorial service. Crying every night, I was confused, heartbroken, and mourning the loss of the first close family member that suddenly dies. When we arrived in Florida, my dad’s four brothers were there, along with his two sisters, and their children while we attended the funeral, supporting one another. Although my grandpa was cremated, all of his organs and skin were donated to help people in need or for research, as he had a skin disease. When my grandma told me that he had helped many people because he donated his organs, I surprisingly felt a little bit of satisfaction that something good came out of this horrible situation. Luckily, my grandpa was and is not alone; from this year alone, over seven thousand people have donated some organ(s). Unfortunately there are more people waiting for a transplant; as of September 17, 2012 at 3:30 p.m., there are currently 115,445 candidates on the transplant waiting list in the United States alone. That number grows significantly