As of September 21, 2009, approximately 103,700 people in the United States were waiting on an organ donation. During the six-month period prior to this, only 7,250 received an organ donation according to United Networking for Organ Sharing data. At this rate it will take 15 years just to get through the people on this list, without adding anyone new. If more teen drivers were to agree to become organ donors, many additional lives could be saved. Teen drivers should become organ donors because it is simple, the organs can be used instead of wasted, and they can assist in saving lives.

When you think about becoming an organ donor you undoubtedly begin to think about treacherous paper work. In reality, this is not the case at all. You are simply asked to respond to one question, yes or no. Every student receiving a permit or license has the opportunity to become an organ donor. The simple yes or no question is asked at the same time that you submit your name, gender and height. It may seem morbid that you are deciding the future of your organs at a seconds notice, but when you learn about the pros and cons beforehand, you can feel confident in your answer and have complete faith in the commitment you are making.

When someone is in need of an organ, they take what they can get. Although it is uncomfortable to think about, the organs of a teenage driver would be more beneficial to an organ recipient than the organs of an adult. This is because teens tend to be in better physical health than adults. Being a donor would help ensure that your healthy organs were sent to someone in desperate need. The person receiving the organs would have a much better use for them than you would have had for them in your grave, just as a perfectly decent light bulb has no use in a broken lamp. Being an organ donor does not mean you are expected to die any time soon. Being an organ donor does not mean that you will be certain to save a life. Being an organ donor means you are willing to give the working parts of your body, no longer of any use to you, to someone else in order to improve, or possibly save, their life.

When you become an organ donor, you become a hero! Infants, adults, children, and other teens can be saved from the help of organ donors each and every day. Up to 60 organs from each donor can be transplanted to save lives, improve lives, and change lives forever. Your name may not be given to the receiver of your organs, but they will think about the person that just said “yes” and let them either continue to live, or live under more preferred circumstances. Your life on Earth would be over, but you would be remembered; you would be remembered as a hero.

By opening your eyes to becoming an organ donor, I hope you can now see how simple and sensible it can be to save lives. With your assistance, it is possible that someday one or more of the 103,700 lives desperately waiting on a list to survive will have their dreams fulfilled. Organ donation would not interrupt any attempt to save your life before your death, nor would it interrupt plans for an open casket funeral. So how will you reply when asked to become an organ donor? Will your answer be, “yes”, I will simply give my healthy organs to save a life, or “no”, I will take my organs with me to rot in my grave?