Page 17 - More than a match

MY DECISION TO BE

MY BROTHER’S DONOR

onating an organ may be one of the most important decisions
Dyou make in your life, and it takes sacrifice and a lot of courage.
Offering to become my brother’s donor was a natural thing for me to do,

and the decision to donate came from my heart. I, like thousands of other
people, have seen the campaigns, watched television documentaries,
and heard commercials appealing for people to register as organ donors
in order to save lives. However, sometimes hearing about such matters
is not enough to spur us into action.
I decided to become a donor because it was for my brother, whom
I dearly love. I wanted him to live longer and regain his full health

and, as his sister, it was important for me to give him that chance.
During a transplant, doctors need to match a donor and recipient’s
blood group and tissue type, and siblings are more likely to be a closer
match. The closer the match, the greater the likelihood of a successful
transplant. There is also a shortage of kidneys from black donors,
and if I did not offer to donate; my brother could have to wait three
times as long for a transplant than the national average waiting time
of just over three years. This would be stressful for him and the whole
family, and the longer he was on dialysis, the more his health would

deteriorate. If I went ahead with the transplant operation and there

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