The gift of life

DONOR cards have always stirred strong emotions since their launch in 1994, with a record 18 million people now signed up to the transplant register.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Feb 2012, 09:42 BST

Yet despite this commitment – and selfless individuals such as the former jockey and racing pundit Richard Pitman recently giving one of his kidneys to a stranger – there are still 7,600 people waiting for a transplant in the UK.

Understandably, the British Medical Association is at the forefront of renewed attempts to offer the gift of life to the seriously ill and is now looking at riskier options, such as using organs from higher-risk patients such as the elderly or re-starting the hearts of people who have recently died.

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That such procedures are being considered is testament to medical advances since the first human heart transplant was carried out in 1967 by Dr Christiaan Barnard.

Yet, given the issue’s moral complexities, it will always be preferential – and avoid confusion – if individuals choose to carry a donor card, rather than their relatives, in conjunction with doctors, having to second guess the wishes of a loved one at a time of great torment.