Earlier today I received a note from a fellow Freeper asking whether troops can give the gift of life to another military and frankly I was dumbfounded by the question so I did a bit of research and asked my friends to assist.
In the end this is an ethical discussion. I mean, if you want to sign your donor card -- it expresses what you want your wishes to be.
But, there are folks on the waiting list some for years. If a solder was to die would his organs not go to the next name on the transplant list? Are you causing the program to go off balanced? Anyway, I would love to hear others thoughts on the subject.
All you have to do is read about this fine your man Home From The War In Iraq, Marine Faces The Fight Of His Life (heart wrenching) who served our country and now is ill requiring the gift of life.
I was unaware of what the regs are on this but I did hope that at least it was encouraged through the ranks.
The ethical question is of course that one cannot buy an organ or in anyway try to jump those on the list. I do not know if a military donor expressed his wishes as it pertains to his organs. While this is the most selfless gift one can make the liberal media would just distort this to high heaven.
Lastly, an organ to stay viable to the receiving patient must receive the organ within hours making it tough if a military member were to die and wanted his organ to give the gift of life.
That was a great article. Thanks for finding that.
I sure hope more people see this article. I would really love to see some opinions about this topic.
Thank you for looking and asking around and thanks for the ping. I'll be checking back.
I guess everyone went to bed early after watching Iraqis vote all night long.
It seems to me that if the troops knew of a fellow service member in need like this, they could volunteer to sign consents for their organs to go to that particular person in the event they were killed.
Like a will. I think organ donations can be specified for a particular person can't they?
I've never been in the military, but the brotherhood that people talk about makes me think this is exactly what they would want to do for each other in the event of their death.
With the distance from the battlefield in Iraq to here, it would require the donor to stay on life support for the entire transport.
I think I would want to do that if I were in a war zone and had the potential for being killed, but the logistics seem difficult.
Ethically it seems okay though.
I'm anxious to hear the opinions of fellow freepers.