April 25, 2024
Volume 54 - No. 17
DONATING YOUR BODY TO SCIENCE
The Good Guys versus The Bad Guys By Friedrich Gomez Every year, thousands of American lives are improved and/or saved through body and organ donations for transplants, as well as body donations to further medical research to attain better treatment, understanding, and cures. Last year was the 10th record-breaking year in a row that American lives were saved and/or improved through organ and body donations, and this number continues to increase, greatly, each and every year – for over a decade now.
(Source: Health Resources and Services Administration/HRSA “Continued increase in organ donation drives new records.” https://optn. transplant.hrsa.gov › news ›) HUMAN BEINGS ARE GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE IN LIFE. In 2022, there were approximately 40,000 organ transplants from deceased donors that were performed in the U.S. alone, which is a 4.6% increase over 2021. In 2023 of last year, over 42,000 people were given a second chance
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in life, thanks to the legacy of love from registered donors, both deceased and still living. We often forget that there is such a thing as a “living donor.” When celebrity singer, actress, and producer, Selena Gomez, needed an emergency kidney transplant in 2017, fellow actress and close friend, Francia Raisa, stepped-in to fill the bill. Although people are born with two kidneys, a healthy donor can continue to live a normal life after do-
nating one of their kidneys. Most people with one kidney live their lives with few problems – in other words, one healthy kidney can work as well as two; as in the case of Selena Gomez and her life-saving donor and friend, Francia Raisa. There are several other “high-profile” celebrity examples of ‘living donors’ -- all of which help to promote wider public awareness, better understanding, and inspire support for body and organ donations today. JUST ONE BODY DONATION
Donor
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