A face with the name

I was reminded last night of a story my mom told me in 2006, when Children's was running clips of my story as their feature on Channel 10 (the local CBS affiliate). Friends of ours were watching and they have three kids. The middle daughter, after watching the piece, turned to her mom and said, "Mom, I would give her my lungs."

(Insert cute noises here)

Besides it being just a cute story, it illustrates the main reason why I decided to be so "public" about my transplant and the events leading up to it. If people can put a face with the cause, the need for transplantation, I think the impetus for them to donate becomes much stronger. It's one thing to say that 18 people die in the US every day because enough organs are not donated. It's another thing to say that Person A is a computer scientist, with four kids and a dog and wife and who has season tickets to the Buckeyes. And that Person B is a six year old girl who loves Dora the Explorer and bath time with her baby brother but needs a new heart so she can play on her swing set and take dance lessons again. Or the college student who needs a new kidney so he can go to class instead of dialysis three times a week and keep studying criminology and play his violin with the orchestra.

Faces are so important. They bring the entire issue to vivid life.