Ching Yu Eng, 14

School: Evergreen Secondary School

Topic: What does organ donation mean to you?

Award: First Place, Junior Category, 2021

A few months ago, if you had asked me about organ donation, I would have merely shrugged. That’s because that was all I could say about organ donation. To me, organ donation was just one of the many heart-warming stories that I would see on a screen but ultimately never experience for myself. I knew it was an actual tangible experience that held much weight and gravity. Yet, to me, a young teenager, it scarcely held much significance. I was after all, too young to be thinking and considering such matters. Now, after sitting through a talk regarding organ donation, I have much to contemplate and many more implications to explore.

I was greatly sobered by the statistics that informed me of the risks organ recipients had to go through. My consternation only continued when I heard about the difficulties of people waiting for organs. This made me think. What is it like for them? How does it feel waking up every day knowing youre getting closer and closer to death? How does it feel sitting alone in a gloomy hospital surrounded only by other patients, with a giant needle in your arm? How does it feel wearing a VAD, a veritable ticking time bomb that could fail suddenly at any time, on your heart every day? That constant shadow of despair and despondency looming over you. No one deserves to experience that.

That’s why I support organ donation wholeheartedly.

Everyone’s time will eventually run out one day. It may be sudden. It may be a shock. It could be an accident. Or, it could be expected. It could also be an anticipated event. That doesn’t mean its not as tragic. That doesn’t mean the impact and grief in the aftermath isn’t as powerful and potent. Still, if I could do one last good deed before I pass on, why shouldn’t I grasp the chance? If my time has ended, why don’t I give it to someone else?

I like to imagine a human life as an hourglass. All the small grains inside are what make a person up. Some are granted with plenty of sand and some are given little. And likewise, an hourglass can get knocked over unexpectedly. It can shatter. It could happen anytime. All the sand could pour out. There are no guarantees in life. However, wouldn’t it truly be a wondrous thing if I could pour all my spilled sand into someone else’s hourglass? Take all my little grains of life and give them to someone. Years and centuries of research into medical science has culminated into this, the miraculous ability to grant someone a new start.

And it’s not only one person I’m helping by donating my organs. It’s not just the recipient who has to endure agony and pain. There’s also the recipient’s family members and friends. They have to bear anguish and hardship also. People close to the recipient have to watch their loved one suffer, knowing that there’s little they can do to alleviate their misery.

There are so many hearts one can touch by being an organ donor.

So, my feelings towards organ donation can be summed up in the following two words. Why not? Why not prolong someone’s life, someone’s existence, just by donating organs that you will no longer require when you pass on. Why not give them another chance?

Why not leave behind a legacy? Why not live on inside them? Why not let them live on for me?

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2021 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health).

To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg