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A Gift of Life Essay examples

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Organ donation is a big decision but Jason Ray decided that when it was his time to join God, he wanted to help save the lives of others. March 26, 2007 was a day full of sorrow but also a day for a new beginning. Jason Ray, a beloved son and UNC basketball team mascot, was killed unexpectedly while walking down the shoulder on Route 4. On his way back to the hotel to join the rest of the team, Ray was hit from behind by a reckless driver. The result was a cracked skull and an extreme brain injury. He was in a coma for several days when a doctor finally approached the Ray family and said, “I'm going to do everything I can to save your son, but I'm not God and this is going to take His intervention, because I've never seen someone injured …show more content…

That is 100,000 people who could die without receiving that vital transplantation. Organ donation can save the lives of those 100,000 people. There are two ways to donate. The first way is to be a dead donor, which means after a person dies their organs would be donated to others in need. About ninety percent of organ donations come from people who have been considered “brain dead.” A person who is brain dead needs a machine that will breathe for them otherwise they will have no heart beat or organ functions (Dubois)
Brain death is said to occur when several tests are fulfilled: there is a known cause compatible with irreversible loss of brain function, there are no factors confounding the examination of brain function, there is loss of consciousness, there is loss of brainstem reflexes including spontaneous breathing, and these are diagnosed as irreversible (Joffe).
People who have died from brain death are the perfect candidates for organ donation. A person’s organs are still perfectly intact but the person is non-responsive or cannot function on their own. If a person is announced brain dead and is a donor, their organs can be taken immediately and sent to a hospital where they are needed in order to save someone else’s life (Bresnhan). Organ donation is a kind gesture that everyone should be a part of. People that die have no say when or how it will happen. People that are brain dead, though, can save

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