Become a living donor – And save the life of your loved ones!

Posted by Marie Safel on December 3rd, 2019

Most living organ donationsoccur between family members and close friends.A number of people become altruistic living donors by choosing to donate to someone whom they do not know.

Living donors possibly can donate:

One of two kidneys.

A kidney is an organ most often donated by a living donor. The donor's remaining kidney provides the functionality necessary to remove waste from the body.

One of two portions of their liver.

The remaining liver lobe cells grow or regenerate until the liver reaches its original size. This re-growth of the liver occurs within a short period of time both in the donor and the recipient.

A lung or portion of a lung, part of the pancreas, or part of the intestines.

Though these organs do not rejuvenate, however, both the donated part of the organ and the part that remaining with the donor will be functioning fully.

Living donation is mainly of two types: directed and non-directed.

Directed Donation

In a directed living donation, donors especially refer to the names of the person to whom they want to donate their organs (for the transplant). This is the most general type of living donation. In this type of living organ donation, the donor can be:

• A relative, such as a father, mother, sister, brother, etc.
• A person with a personal or social connection with the transplant candidate, such as a spouse, a friend or a colleague.

Non-Directed Donation

In this type of living donation, the living donors are not related to or known to the recipient but make their donation purely for selfless reasons. The agreement is based on medical compatibility with a patient in need. Some non-donors choose not to meet their recipient. While in other cases, if they agree, and if the policy of the transplant center allows this, the donor and recipient may meet at some time.

Organ donation is only conceivable if the donor has died in the hospital. Donors are put on a ventilator to keep their heart beating so that oxygen-rich blood continues to circulate through their body. The choice to be a living donor is a very private one, nobody will force you to be a donor. But being a donor is one of the generous act one can do in his/her lifetime.  So, come forward and support this humanitarian cause.