Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Transplant Headlines

Selected headlines

Organ transplant: Have one on me, mate
Andy Williamson faced years on dialysis. Then his friend and fellow band member made an offer he couldn't refuse: one of his own kidneys. Rob Sharp reports in The Independent.

If you had, perchance, wandered down to London Bridge last week, you might have heard a peculiar sound wafting around the area's medieval lanes. The Organ Grinders, an off-beat, slightly eccentric jazz-funk outfit of brass, guitars, Hammond organ and drums, was playing a tight, one-off set at The Clink, a musty onetime prison- turned-museum. And if you had strolled inside, you may have seen the band burst into one of its concluding numbers, "Live Life Then Give Life", a bizarre title for serious musicians, but with an important message: to promote living kidney donation.

Earlier this year, the band's saxophonist, Andy Williamson, underwent a kidney transplant, and the organ had been donated by the band's keyboard player. The concert's aim was to raise awareness of transplantation. This could all have seemed rather too earnest, if it were not for the stench of stagnant water and the waxworks of prisoners in stocks. Read the full article.

Transplant Smackdown – Organ Bureaucrats Attack Organ Donors
HULIQ.com of Hickory, North Carolina reports that LifeSharers, a grass-roots network of organ donors, is defending the rights of organ donors against an assault launched by the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations.

LifeSharers is a network of over 10,000 registered organ donors who want to donate their organs to other organ donors. The AOPO is a lobbying and support group for federally-licensed organ procurement organizations.

LifeSharers members use a process called directed donation to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. AOPO’s document titled “Talking Points: Countering LifeSharers” criticizes organ donors for exercising their right to determine who gets their life-saving gift. That right is enshrined in federal and state law. Read the complete article.

'Transplant tourist' defends trip
BBC News reports about father-of-two Mark Schofield, 44, from Porthcawl, who was followed by BBC Wales' Week in Week Out team on his journey to Asia to buy a new kidney.

The ex-European surfing champion said a shortage of UK organ donors forced him to try to buy a new kidney abroad.

But despite travelling to Asia, he was told the donor organ he had hoped to use was not compatible. Read the full story which includes a reaction from the British Medical Association.


“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network

Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

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