Why I became a donor :)

I remember sitting in the RTA at Hurstville filling out an 18+ card in 2008. I had just turned 18 and had no license so I had to get this card.

On the second page was the part where you choose if you want to be a donor. I took a good hard look at it and I felt dread - What if I were alive and they cut out everything?!?! etc etc and I think its natural to feel that way.

But I ticked the boxes anyway. I ticked everything - heart, lung, liver, kidney, skin, cornea, etc.

"Why?" my sisters asked me. "Why would you want to give everything away??"

But I replied with "Why wouldn't I?"

In 1997, my uncle Wayne Flavell died of malignant bone cancer. Being seven at the time, my memory of him has become dimmer as time passes. Though he will always be in my heart, if had my way I would choose to have him in my life. That man who always remembered my birthday and would mysteriously appear on the day with a gift for me, who was the best brother to my father, who lived at the beach with a car much like the movie "Christine." So far it has been 13 years since he has died and if I could give him something minute such as bone marrow transplant to keep him alive to stop feeling like a tiny piece is missing I would in a heart beat.

As I made the decision to donate my organs I thought about my Uncle. I didn't ever want to feel this way again, I wanted to be sure that if my family was ever in need of a transplant someone would be there. For those who wait years for a second chance at life, I dont want to feel such turmoil. I don't want to be sitting in a doctor's office or at some hospital and being told that me or my family being told that we would have to be placed on a donor list and have to wait for someone else's misfortune to be able to get an organ.

It is everyone's choice whether or not to be an organ or blood donor but I choose to give. As a farewell to living, seeing and breathing in this world I give back the gift of life for those who need it most and hopefully, those who deserve it.


I leave my liver and kidneys so that they could take the bad stuff that life has dealt them and filter it so that the stuff that matters will hold true and stuff that is unnecessary will be excrete...and that is me putting it nicely :)

I give my corneas in the hope that my love of seeing, reading and looking at the world and knowing that by living you are making a difference. Take these eyes and stand strong, make a change for the better and read some more for me, mainly the romantic kind of novels. Look around you and hope others, those who are in need because there is no greater satisfaction than doing one good deed a day.

I gladly give my skin. I wear my heritage proudly through it and it is used as a shield. Skin in your first defense against the heat and keeps us cool. Feeling and touching is one of the best ways to learn about the world. The skin tells a story of its own, so wear mine as proudly as I do and do what you can to protect it.

I leave my bone tissue, so that you stand firm when issues in life try to knock you down. Know that I was raised with 3 sisters so I can hold my own and so will you. Bone tissue is what strengthens your bones, so I provide you with the glue that it will hold strong that which was bursting.

I give thee my lungs, because each time you breathe you are breathing in life. Suck in the air and breathe out the satisfaction that you will live to see new things. For me, breathing is the beginning of living. Nothing is better than breathing and it provides you with new experiences each day.

Most importantly, I give my heart. So that their world will be filled with lots of love. So that he or she can share their heart with someone else. I know that there are technical terms for how the heart works, but I believe that you have to want to life for it to truly function. Love is one of the most important feeling in my life and it will enrich the life of the lucky person who gets it.

By simply giving away what God blessed me with, I leave behind a legacy to those who were unlucky. I live on through them and I hope that they find joy in being able to live again. I give these people a new chance at life and that is a feeling that overwhelms me.

So, why don't you?