Jane PowersOn Recycling Yourself
One of the finest things we can do for our fellow human beings costs us nothing. It takes no money, very little time and hardly any effort. Yet not enough of us do it.
I'm talking about donating our organs and our tissue, or our whole bodies, after we die. Some people may be proscribed by their religion from donorship, but for the rest of us there's no good reason not to consider this most important and final act of recycling.
Last year 88 people donated their organs after death in Ireland, leading to 141 kidney transplants (with five courageous living donors bringing the number up to 146). The figures for organs other than kidneys are not available at the time of writing, but a healthy body can also offer a heart, a set of lungs, a liver and a pancreas. These parts may be harvested only in rare circumstances: where the donor has suffered a sudden event such a head injury, or brain haemorrhage, and has been rushed to hospital and on to a life-support system. Then, if brain death occurs (which means that the person is clinically and legally dead, with no possibility of recovery), the organs may be removed with the consent of the donor's family.
If the donor dies a more usual cardiac death (where the heart stops beating), these large organs are not recoverable. But other parts are, including corneas, skin, bones, heart valves and some tissues. Potential donors should carry a donor card with them at all times (available from pharmacies) and make their views known to their families.
If you are over 65, chances are that your body is less recyclable than that belonging to a younger person. In this case you might consider donating it to medical teaching and research. The way to do this is to write to the professor of anatomy at the nearest medical school and to ask for a brochure about the "anatomical gift programme". There are five such institutions in Ireland: University College Cork, National University of Ireland Galway, University College Dublin, the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and Trinity College in Dublin.
Where a person has opted to donate his or her body, it is embalmed by an undertaker, then released to the college. It is an invaluable teaching aid for students, allowing them to learn first-hand about the wonderful intricacies of human anatomy. After one to three years the family of the donor is contacted, and, according to their wishes, the body (or its cremated remains) can be released to the family or interred in a special cemetery plot.
In Ireland about 100 people donate their bodies to medical teaching and research each year. But more are needed, just as more organ donors are needed. It's a big thing to do, but it requires little effort. And it's worth remembering that, when we've finished with our bodies here, we won't be using them anywhere else.
planetmatters@irish-times.ie
For more about organ donation, see www.bioethics.ie/pdfs/OrganDonation.pdf