Colin Wong Yi Xuan, 14

School: Fuchun Secondary School

Topic: What does organ donation mean to you?

Award: Merit, Junior Category, 2021

In 1954, Ronald L. Herrick would be the first living organ donor, donating his kidney to his identical twin, Richard J. Herrick. Ever since then hundreds of organ transplants have taken place, and thus hundreds of lives have been saved from the good will of others. I strongly believe that organ donation is a force of good, and I shall explain my rationale in the following paragraphs.

Organ donation has the capacity to extend one’s lifespan for decades, and there are many around the world with donated organs who, due to their newly prolonged lifespan, will get to live relatively normal lives for a little longer. Some set up businesses which benefit the economy, others may settle down and start a family, some even run for political offices, where the changes they make to the local or national environment could be extremely beneficial. A human body is similar to a house of cards, once one organ fails, the rest crumble alongside it. But when a new organ is transplanted, the entire system is revitalised, and a person can continue to breathe and live — they get a new chance in life.

However, there is still much to be done in the field of organ donation. For example, governments should allocate more funding to research that is needed to ensure that each organ transplanted can continue to function for as long as humanly possible. To explain this, we must first understand the term ‘graft half-life’, it essentially means the median amount of time that a transplanted organ can work healthily. For example, according to Wexner Medical Center in The Ohio State University, the average graft half-life of a kidney transplanted by a living donor is ten to thirteen years. While this is an adequate amount of time for a middle-aged adult to live the rest of their lives, it is simply not enough time for someone younger, like a teenager. Hence, we must continue to research organ transplantation, and always ensure that we have enough donors to sustain our rate of transplantation, which brings me to my next point.

I believe that in a country like Singapore, which when compared to other countries, does not have a high population, should adopt an opt-out system for organ donation, with the reason being that the pool of potential donors is too little in our nation, and an opt-in system would only serve to limit that pool further. Thus, for the sake of those who need donated organs, we keep our current opt-out system to ensure a sustainable donor pool.

What organ donation means to me is simple – to me, it is largely beneficial. Though there is still much to be done, I could foresee it serving as an alternative to chemotherapy, replacing the organ rather than saving it, which could be detrimental. I also believe that organ donation is much like a measurement of one’s altruism – the willingness to sacrifice to sacrifice an organ to prolong another’s life. While I have never met anyone who has been a donor or received an organ from a donor, I cannot begin to imagine the gratefulness one must feel for such a selfless act.

In conclusion, organ donation has the potential to be a force of good, and given the right conditions, could possibly be used as a less costly treatment to a plethora of conditions. From opt-out systems to the benefits of organ donation, I think it is safe to say that with further research, we can maximise the potential of organ donation, and save countless lives. However, this is just my opinion, and I simply want to share my reasoning behind my thoughts.

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 (opens in new tab)