Why I Became An Advocate for Organ Donation

In November of 1991, at the age of 13, I came down with the flu, or so we thought - nothing out of the ordinary for an Iowan kid in late fall. A few days went by and I was only getting worse, so we went to the local hospital where an X-ray revealed the problem: my heart was four times too big. That’s when my doctor looked at me and said: you need a heart transplant.

I was diagnosed with viral cardiac failure and told I had 3-4 weeks to live. As we began grappling with that reality, the rug was pulled from under me again: I fell into cardiac arrest and was placed on a ventricle pump. Suddenly, instead of 3 weeks, the doctors gave me just 48 hours. 

Against all odds, after 24 hours our prayers were answered, as a donor heart became available and my life was saved. That was 28 years ago, and my life has been forever shaped by that experience. I’ve been given a second chance to live the life I want to lead; to pursue my dreams; to build a family; and to have children. 

It is almost impossible to fully communicate how lucky I am. Believe me, I’ve tried. Over the last 10 years, I’ve dedicated my life to becoming an advocate for organ donation. I want to make this opportunity possible for more people like me. My message is simple: organ donation is only possible through the selfless gift of another.

But I’ve learned since that even if someone registers as an organ donor, or if a family wishes to donate — this selfless gift still may not happen. For organ donation intentions to save lives, an organ procurement organization (OPO) still needs to facilitate the recovery, and recent research shows that OPOs are grossly inefficient. 

Far too often — thousands of times each year — OPOs fail to recover lifesaving organs. Recent news coverage has characterized this as a systemic failing, but it’s more than that; now that policymakers understand the problem, to allow it to continue is a moral failing.