Yesterday, 45 year old slain Downey, California S.W.A.T. officer Shaun Diamond delayed his own police procession waiting to escort his body to the Coroners office, by doing one last selfless, heroic act - donating his organs. In most cases up to 50 lives can be dramatically improved by tissue donation of one individual, but the lives of eight people that have been languishing on the organ transplant waiting list for years can be saved directly from the recycled organs of one individual - a heart, two lungs, two kidneys, liver, pancreas, and small intestines. In Shauns case it was one less than eight. Seven years ago he donated a kidney to someone who had been on the waiting list for 11 years . . . his teenage son. Ive tried to find more details about the circumstances of his sons transplant, but theres very little information available at this time. I wouldnt be surprised if the reason his son needed a kidney transplant was from type 1 diabetes, as thats one of the more common conditions that can eventually lead to kidney failure. As many of my friends and family know, organ donation is something my family feels very strong about. (Martha and I just attended Donate Life Ambassador training seminar this past weekend). We consider being an organ donor as the ultimate pay it forward act. It is of course a very personal decision to become an organ donor, and Im not going to try to convince anyone here of the many reasons that they should become one - you already know. The number one reason people arent registered as an organ donor isnt because they are in some way opposed to it, or are unaware of the merits, its more often because theyve just never got around to it. So if you fall into that category - welcome to the hectic lifestyle of the 21st century - heres your chance to finally cross this simple task off your to do list. DonateLife.net/register-now Choose your state on the map or from the drop-down menu, and fill in the blanks. Im running a race near Scottsdale this weekend so I filled out the form for the fine State of Arizona. Took less than three minutes. Keep Calm Stay Strong & Jester On . . .
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 09:20:56 +0000