I’ve had an organ donor card in my wallet for as long as I can remember and I’ve always made it very clear to my loved ones that I want all my organs to be used when I die.
My question is, given that I only need one kidney, would it be better if I were to donate the other one right away rather than after my inevitable demise?
Obviously, my organs won’t be used in the unlikely event that I die in some unrecoverable way, like being lost at sea or something. And there’s always the possibility that a close relative might need a kidney at some point, so I should arguably save it for them.
Is there some other reason to do it now?
Not a direct answer, but if you’d like to do something now to help someone while you’re still alive (and you’re under 30) you could sign up for bone marrow donation. And of course, give blood as often as you can. Regular blood donors are straight up angels.
Indeed! I do donate blood on the regular, so thank you.
And if anyone reading this is in the UK and would like to also donate blood, you can sign up to do so at the wonderfully named website, blood.co.uk. They will also occasionally send you unintentionally(?) hilarious and sinister messages like, ‘The need for blood is rising’.
Good for you! My grandad had some rare blood type that was good for newborn babies (I’m a bit hazy on the details, he’s long dead now) and he gave blood as often as he could as soon as he found out. My mum told me he was a superhero who saved poorly babies when I was a kid and I believed her wholeheartedly!