Luke Geraghty

This is my original view that generated enough interest to hit the front page of Reddit, landing in the number two slot:

“I think organ donation should be ‘opt out’ rather than ‘opt in’. What about you?”

Here are just a few of the 2127 comments and stories:

“Well when my dad died of a stroke (he was in intensive care) my mum approached me in the hospital and asked about organ donation. I perked up and thought “AWESOME”! the brain is an organ so he can get a new brain, but then i thought, “oh, but it won’t be really him” then the reality hit me. (It’s funny how hope can distort logic). He was dead and they wanted to harvest his organs. He was always against it but Mum asked my brother and I and we agreed to it. He always said just put be in the bin when I’m dead. So we donated his organs. 12 people benefitted. It keeps my mother sane 20 years later, not to mention the lives it saved. She gets letters from the organisation that runs the donation program yearly updating her on the health of the recipients. This helps her a lot and is one thing that seems to get overlooked when discussing organ donation. Thank you for reading.” -jimmyspark

“You must be joking. I can think of no greater violation of an individual by a collective than this. If you want to sure, but you have no right zero zip nothing to anyone else body just because it is good for the collective. I’m sorry if that is inconvenient… I support anyone who wants to help others but opt-out implies you have an authority you don’t.” -drwho9437

“So, who else just signed up to be an organ donor because of this thread? I did! Meant to for a long time but I never got around to it… done!” -citricsquid

“Not only that, but getting donated organs should depend on whether you’d donate yours. Not on the donor registry? Not on the waiting list. (Except in cases of a medical exclusion.)” -robotnixon

“I guess this could potentially open me up to trolls, but I’m going to believe in the goodness of people. Organ donation is an issue close to my heart.

On May 30th, 2010, I am “going red” (dyeing my hair a lovely shade of vermilion!) and marching in the Great Strides Walk to fund raise for medical research on Cystic Fibrosis.

I am doing this in honour of Eva Markvoort, who passed away a couple days short of her 26th birthday, on March 27th, 2010. Eva was an older sister figure to me, and was the catalyst for some of the best life decisions I ever made. She was a great advocate for organ donation- after her documentary 65_RedRoses came out, organ donation in Canada TRIPLED.

~~~

To Eva,

Thank for for the themed scavenger hunts, the life lessons, the face paints, and the crazy hair. Thank you for the memorable trips to Victoria and the introduction to UVic. Thank you for the movie nights — roast chicken & Gummi Bears will forever make me smile and think of you. Thank you for demonstrating how to be an inspiration and for showing me how to make a difference for what you believe in. Thank you unwaveringly positive affect on my life.

Most of all, thank you for showing me by example how to be an amazing sister to mine, and I promise that I will always be there for yours.

Breathe easy.” – peacebone

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