National Donor Sabbath: November 10–12, 2006

Understanding the National Donor Sabbath

In 2002, a young woman named Ashley wrote to the HRSA Division of Transplantation to ask for donor pins and brochures to distribute to members of her faith community for National Donor Sabbath. She also had written an article for National Donor Sabbath about two close friends who had need of an organ transplant. We asked her permission to share the article not just because we feel that it is moving and well–written but also because it illustrates both the need for increasing donation and the reasons and ways that people become involved in donation efforts like National Donor Sabbath. Sadly, an update, which appears at the end of the original article, only confirms the need for more donors.

When I was in sixth grade, I had two best friends — Jasmine and Mandy. Being typical sixth grade girls, we started a friendship club called JAM — J for Jasmine, A for Ashley, and M for Mandy. We would write each other notes and sit in Miss Green’s reading class, staring out the window, wishing we were squirrels. Squirrels didn't have to go to school — they got to play outside all day. We were very jealous.

Both Jasmine and Mandy had lung diseases, totally different, unrelated diseases, but with very similar symptoms. They regularly went to the doctor and often were admitted to the hospital in Gainesville for two weeks at a time. I spent a lot of time through middle and high school hanging out with them as they received breathing treatments or meds in the hospital.

A few years ago, Jasmine was placed on the national waiting list for a lung transplant. Once a patient is placed on the waiting list, there is really no way to know when or if they will receive the organs they need. Currently there are more than 82,000 people on the national waiting list and a new name is added every thirteen minutes. On average, 18 people die each day because the organs they need never become available. But there is something we can do and you can help!

Every November, one weekend, the one that falls two weekends before Thanksgiving, is set aside as the National Donor Sabbath. This is a weekend designated for all faiths to discuss organ and tissue donation. If you decide to be an organ and tissue donor, you can save or enhance the lives of fifty people or more! In our morning worship service, you will receive some educational materials that address questions people frequently have about organ donation. With these materials, you will also find an organ/tissue donor card. I hope that you will read over these materials and prayerfully consider being an organ donor.

If you do decide that being an organ donor is something you’d like to do, there are a few key things to do. The first is to sign an organ donor card and carry it with you at all times. In most states you may also have it indicated on your driver’s license, and in some states you can sign up on a donor registry.*

The second MOST IMPORTANT thing you should do is to discuss your wishes with your family. Even if you have it indicated on your driver’s license and carry a card with you, sometimes it is your family’s decision as to whether or not your organs are donated.

In December, 2002, my sixth grade buddy, Jasmine, was admitted to the hospital with a very dire need for lungs. She spent about seven months on breathing and feeding tubes and passed away in July, because the lungs she needed never became available. The other member of our trio, Mandy, is currently undergoing the process of being placed on the waiting list. Even after her name is added, there is no guarantee that she will ever receive the lungs she needs. Please consider being an organ donor today. It’s too late to help Jasmine, but there’s still hope for Mandy. YOU may be that hope.

As HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has said, “Organ donation is a gift that proves beyond a doubt that out of tragedy can come hope…out of death, new life.”

There is a popular saying in the world of transplantation and donation: “Don’t take your organs to heaven; heaven knows we need them here.”

*Many states now have registries that allow individuals, often on-line, to sign up to be donors.

NOTE: Ashley’s best friend Mandy never received a transplant. In May, 2003, Mandy died of complications of her lung disease. Ashley continues to encourage others to become aware of the shortage of organ donors and to ask them to consider sharing life.