Lim Rae-ann, 14

School: Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary)

Topic: What does organ donation mean to you?

Award: Distinction, Junior Category, 2021

Your Death Saves Me From Mine

To me, organ donation is a necessary and hope-bringing deed, no matter how depressing the reason why the organs are being donated in the first place, as organ donation means that somebody has lost someone very dear to the merciless grasp of death. Nevertheless, another somebody has had their loved one given a new lease of life.

One of the drawbacks of organ donation is that it brings about the concept of being happy for someone’s death. I find this the most serious and morally gray area of organ donation; the concept of feeling joy when someone else has died so the person who matters to you can live, a very selfish concept. It is cruel to rejoice when somewhere, a family has made a heart-breaking and selfless decision to strip their deceased of their organs, a decision that can serve as a persistent reminder of who they have lost.

However, “immoral” the reaction to receiving a postpartum organ donation, compared to the good organ donation does, this drawback seems infinitely more insignificant. One person can save up to 7 people with postpartum donation, and is the most benevolent postpartum act humans can undertake. The benefits easily outweigh the little drawbacks to organ donation; with the expiration of your own life, you can save other human beings.

The necessity of organ transplants is apparent, with more than 500 Singaporeans requiring a transplant that will be life-saving but with more than 400 left still waiting at the end of a year. This wait will take around 5-17 years before most patients can receive their transplant, and is an unendurable wait, emotionally draining most patients. Especially for those who are children, their best days of their childhood, wasted away, trapped in a hospital, trapped in the cage of their slowly deteriorating health.

The picture just painted is why I also say organ donation is a hope-bringer, for it not only lets the patient, but also the patient’s family see the light at the end of the tunnel. For those who require transplantation, organ donation is something that gives them a shot at a normal life. Take, for example, a young girl with no more than four years of age. Her heart is failing, and she needs a heart transplant. By donating your organs, you could possibly save this little girl. You could give this little girl the chance to run around in the playground, the chance to make friends her own age who are not hooked up to heart monitors or IV drips all the time. By donating your organs, you could also save her parents from losing their child, save them from losing all the memories that could be. Getting the news that your loved one is getting an organ transplant is the same feeling as someone relaxing their vise-like grip on your heart and allowing it to beat, the same feeling as taking a gulp of fresh air after spending so long in the deep, murky depths of the water.

Very succinctly, I would summarize organ donation as simply passing a lifeline to a nearly-ending one. As can be seen from my title, the core purpose of organ donation is for the hope that someone’s death can save other people from their own. Organ donation is all about buying more time before the inevitable comes and takes us all; more time for happy days, more time to be a happy person. For isn’t happiness all anyone desires?

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2021 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health).

To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg