It was my first time donating blood in Sin Chew’s hall back in 1999. Due to my weight, I was only allowed to donate half a pack or the smaller cc pack. I wasn’t afraid at all because my friend was with me. He was the one who encouraged me to try. Besides, a very enthusiastic uncle was there sharing his story of how good it is to do this and how he has agreed to donate all his organs when he die too. Ooo…the thought of giving away all organs and tissues was frightening at first. However, the idea lingers in my subconscious mind for sometime until recently I found out the exact place to be a registered donor.
After reading some valuable information like religious viewpoints, faq, and details about how they will take my organ after I die and not hindering the funeral process and so on, I decided to sign myself up.
1. Are there any religious objections to organ donation?
2. Will organ donation affect funeral preparations?
3. Am I too young or old to be a donor?
4. What is the actual process of removal?
5. Tell me more about organ donation and brain death.
6. How can I become a donor?
It was a very speedy service as well. Within a week, I received my donor card. It is advised that donor carry the card with them at all time and inform their family of their wish before death. Otherwise, family members will be in a very difficult situation to decide whether to give or not.
This poem by American poet, Robert N. Test has inspired organ donors all over the world.
To Remember Me - I Will Live Forever
Robert N Test
The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly
tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital; busily
occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor
will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all
intents and purposes, my life has stopped.
When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body
by the use of a machine. And don’t call this my deathbed. Let it be
called the bed of life, and let my body be taken from it to help others
lead fuller lives.
Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby’s face
or love in the eyes of a woman.
Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing
but endless days of pain.
Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of
his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.
Give my kidneys to the one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week.
Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and
find a way to make a crippled child walk.
Explore every corner of my brain.
Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday a speechless
boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain
against her window.
Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weakness and all prejudice
against my fellow man.
Give my sins to the devil.
Give my soul to God.
If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word
to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.
Source: Organ Donation in Malaysia
