On September 31st a new website called Matching Donors will be launched allowing people in the UK to choose the recipient of their organ donations. You will be able to donate your kidney after logging on to the website, started in the US and choosing the person who you want to receive your priceless gift of life.
There is nothing illegal in this practice but it was said on many news reports today that many people within the NHS worry about the effects this will have on the already sparse numbers of donors within the system. At the moment 3 people die a day in the UK waiting on their transplants, others in the NHS argue that if this website were to help even a small proportion of these people it can only be a good thing.
I am on the organ donor list and bone marrow register, I hope that one day I can be able to help someone in need. If I am able to log on to the site and find someone who is the same blood type as me and in need of a new liver or kidney who for whatever reason I feel a strong pull to help is this a bad thing? Or is it as Di Franks is quoted as saying on ITV news “playing on the very people who are generous. People’s heart strings are being given a twang… Somewhere there will be some poor person hooked up to a dialysis machine that isn’t strong enough to play a guitar, let alone sing – who is in real desperate need of a kidney and can’t get one… They just wait on the list while others jump the queue because they have got the brass to play a guitar and advertise.” Di Franks runs the site Living Kidney Donation and has donated via the altruistic method personally.
If Princess needed an organ donation I would stop at nothing to help her get it. You’d see blogs, Facebook pages, street campaigns outside local shopping centres, leaflet drops through doors. You name it I would do it. Is there much difference between me doing this and putting a compelling video on a website in order to reach a larger target audience? Is this website just taking advantage of the powerful outreach opportunities of the web or taking advantage of the kindness of good people touched by a heartfelt story and good video editing? Should it even matter the reasons why they donate as long as they do and a life is saved?
It is interesting to see there are so many opinions when it comes to donations, I doubt there is any right or wrong though I’m sure we all have our own opinions on this and I’d be interested to hear your own thoughts on the matter or anonymous versus chosen organ donation.
