Organ Donation

In the ninth grade we are discussing organ donation.

Why would someone choose to donate his or her organs? Is this something for healthy people to even think about? Why would a grieving family choose to donate a loved one's organs? What if you or someone you loved needed a transplant? If you wanted to become an organ donor, what would you need to do?

We looking at common myths surrounding organ donation, and we're discussing cultural differences with regard to attitudes about organ donation.

As part of our discussion, we are viewing two videos about Nicholas Green, a seven-year-old American boy who tragically died in a highway robbery in Italy in 1994. Nicholas' family chose to donate his organs to Italians in need of transplants. At the time, organ donation wasn't very common. The Green family's generosity in the face of such tragedy has spurred a surge in organ donation not only in Italy, but throughout the world.

The Nicholas Effect, Part I

(This video tells you about Nicholas Green and his family's decision to donate his organs).

The Nicholas Effect, Part II

(This video tells you about the people whose lives were transformed—and saved—by the Greens' donation of Nicholas' organs).

In addition, we're listening to this story from American National Public Radio. It is an interview between a grown daughter and her father about a day at work that was his most memorable. A surgeon, he describes what happened when his patient, a young girl, tragically passed away and her family decided to donate her organs.

Look at this medical journal abstract about organ donation and transplants in Russia for practice skimming information and deciding what the main point is very quickly.

This article about the murder trial of transplant doctors in Moscow from 2003—2005 sheds further light on why organ donation is so uncommon in Russia.