Would you donate an organ to a stranger?

NachoBusiness · 18-10-2015 03:50PM #1

Heartwarming story in the DM today about a father who posted the following appeal on Facebook hoping someone might come forward and donate a kidney to his ill daughter, Stacey (26):

Good evening ladies and gents, is there anyone out there that would like to donate a kidney to help my daughter?

She has kidney disease and needs a transplant as soon as possible.

Myself and my wife have had tests but are not able to donate due to different blood groups and low function in our kidneys.

She is the mother of our three-year-old grandson and finds it hard to function properly because of the illness.

Thank you for your time.

A woman seen the appeal, came forward and it all appears to have worked out...

Mother of two becomes the first person in Britain to donate her kidney to a stranger after seeing an appeal on Facebook

Mother-of-two Louise Drewery, from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, offered to help after reading an appeal on behalf of Stacey Hewitt, who was suffering kidney failure.

Stacey's Father posted a message asking: 'Is there anyone out there that would like to donate a kidney to help my daughter?'

The transplant was successful and is believed to be the first ever live organ donation in Britain to have been instigated through social media.

Louise and Stacey now share a lifelong bond after the operation was carried out at the Institute of Transplantation at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

So the question is, would you donate an organ to a stranger and if so, would you do it for free or would you only be willing to do it for some kind of financial reward?

I wouldn't on the basis that I am a selfish man and I don't like needles.

corner of hells · 18-10-2015 03:55PM

Definitely not an organ , I've an old piano I have no use for though.

The Moldy Gowl · 18-10-2015 03:56PM

I would donate my penis, but they would probably be disappointed.

josephryan1989 · 18-10-2015 04:50PM

I like liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Medusa22 · 18-10-2015 04:53PM

I think that woman did a truly selfless thing and I admire her for that, she saved another person's life, and a stranger at that.

For myself though, I wouldn't donate an organ while I am still alive, there are just too many medical complications for me to risk it, especially not for a stranger but I would consider it for someone I loved.

When I'm dead though, they can take whatever is left in good working order

Dirty Dingus McGee · 18-10-2015 04:56PM

Don't think I would purely in case it might A) shorten my own life and

a family member may want me to donate a kidney to them at some stage.

Fair play to him for doing it but I thought what Joe Brolly did was odd as yer man wasn't even a close friend and who knows whether a family member might need one in the future.

Bulbous Salutation · 18-10-2015 04:57PM

Absolutely not.

Penny Tration · 18-10-2015 05:00PM

No, I wouldn't.

I think it's an incredible, selfless thing to do.

For me though, I wouldn't on the basis that there's every chance a member of my immediate may need it in the future. My family are more important and I wouldn't give up a chance to potentially save my sisters' or parents' lives.

the evasion_kid · 18-10-2015 05:03PM

I would but I reckon there only fit for the bin...

beks101 · 18-10-2015 05:03PM

No. Fair play but I think she's mental. What if one of her own kids needs a kidney in future? What if it causes her her own health problems?

paleoperson · 18-10-2015 05:06PM

Over my dead body.

The_Valeyard · 18-10-2015 05:07PM

Honestly, im too selfish to part with my organs to give to a stranger. I could not do that.

But for someone I loved and was held close to my heart, Id happily share my insides with them.

Diamond Doll · 18-10-2015 05:13PM

I'd do it for a family member no problem, not for a stranger though. I'd feel a bit shítty if I went giving away a kidney, and then in a few years my own son needed it!

Would have no problem with any/all of my organs being donated when I die.

petrolcan · 18-10-2015 05:14PM

Depends how well I knew them.

Skylinehead · 18-10-2015 05:53PM

petrolcan wrote: »

Depends how well I knew them.

Clues in the title.

jamesbere · 18-10-2015 05:58PM

I wouldn't, I prefer to keep it for one of my family if the situation arose. Anyway considering I only have one kidney, theirs more chance I'll be the one looking for the donor

NachoBusiness · 18-10-2015 06:32PM

I've changed my mind. I'd sell one of my eyes for a €1m.

18-10-2015 06:36PM

It depends.

Maybe not for some general appeal but if, say, some stranger needed a kidney and I was the only match in a huge number, then yeah horse it out.

petrolcan · 18-10-2015 06:50PM

Skylinehead wrote: »

Clues in the title.

*sigh*

Notavirus.exe · 18-10-2015 06:53PM

I donated my Organ to my local church last month. It was getting dusty there in the corner and I had no use for it.

Rubberlegs · 18-10-2015 06:58PM

As others have said , not a hope while I'm still alive. I'd never forgive myself if one of my kids needed it and it was gone to a stranger. Also the possibility of me being left unwell would not be fair on loved ones. Once I'm dead I don't care who has what, I'll have no use for my organs then !

18-10-2015 07:00PM

73Cat wrote: »

As others have said , not a hope while I'm still alive. I'd never forgive myself if one of my kids needed it and it was gone to a stranger. Also the possibility of me being left unwell would not be fair on loved ones. Once I'm dead I don't care who has what, I'll have no use for my organs then !

Could you not lend it until you want it back, like a bicycle?

NachoBusiness · 18-10-2015 07:01PM

Notavirus.exe wrote: »

I donated my Organ to my local church last month.

Yet another unfair suggestion that the catholic church are all sex fiends.

Joey Jo-Jo Junior · 18-10-2015 07:08PM

I admire her for what she did but no, I wouldn't. Not while I'm still alive.

There's a small chance that someone I love might need it in the future. I'd hate to not be able to give them mine because I donated it to a stranger.

18-10-2015 07:12PM

I think a lot of people who are saying no might be surprised how they'd react if the chance presented itself. If a stranger, say a mother with young kids, needed a kidney and you were the only match, you'd have to consider it.

byhookorbycrook · 18-10-2015 07:12PM

I cannot even give blood due to medication I have to take . I have signed to donate my body RCSI for research.

Valentina · 18-10-2015 07:30PM

I voted YES before I read the article. I probably would do it tbh.

I hold an organ donor card and am on the bone marrow register so hopefully one day someone will benefit from my innards and whatnot.

Capt'n Midnight · 19-10-2015 09:11AM

Let's be brutally honest here.

The main reason a living person would have to donate an organ to a stranger is because there too many selfish people are unwilling to donate organs after their death.

If we changed the law to presumed consent with an opt out registry we could save a lot of lives. It may only be temporary given the progress in artificial and transgenic organs. But right now it's something like only one in three people on the waiting list survive long enough to get an organ.

As for tissue matching, that's already being done for bone marrow.

sbsquarepants · 19-10-2015 09:18AM

No, I probably wouldn't. I would see it as a senseless risk to take for no real reward (I wouldn't do it for money either btw) I would only do it for someone I loved, not just happened to know or be related to.
In short I wouldn't donate an organ except to a one of a small, very select group of people.

sbsquarepants · 19-10-2015 09:20AM

Deleted User wrote: »

I think a lot of people who are saying no might be surprised how they'd react if the chance presented itself. If a stranger, say a mother with young kids, needed a kidney and you were the only match, you'd have to consider it.

In a case like that , I would probably do it - but that's only hypothetical - I wouldn't put myself forward for the tests to see if I was a match in the first place, so the situation would never arise.

CruelCoin · 19-10-2015 09:27AM

OP:

1 - How much is a "lot of moolah" ?

2 - She's mad. What will happen? You'll shave some time off your life expectancy and go through the paina nd recuperation period for what? Being brought out to dinner, a smug feeling, and a postcard for 2-3 years untill they stop.
Poor trade if you ask me.

I'd do it for my partner and my family in a heartbeat, but thats it.

BettePorter · 19-10-2015 09:39AM

Absolutely agreed! Presumed consent should be the law and in fact I think it should be harder than a simple registry to opt out cause I think people opt out flippantly in a 'oh I don't want to be cut open or my eyes taken' etc.
Perhaps if you had to go to the trouble of getting a small tattoo of sorts in your armpit or between your toes to signify you absolutely didn't want your organs taken, it would sort the people who say no casually without thinking about it from the people who truly believe its wrong or against their wishes etc.

Would you donate an organ to a stranger?

Would you be willing to donate an organ to a stranger? 35 votes

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