Alaina Tan En Xin, 14

School: Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary)

Topic: What does organ donation mean to you?

Award: Distinction, Junior Category, 2021

Sacrifice

Clouded. Metallic. Cold.
The nauseating smell of antiseptic wafted in the air.
She turns in the lumpy hospital bed, her dark-blonde hair in tangles, bleary-eyed with a skin-prickling sensation due to the tubes and needles piercing her skin.

Nearly ten thousand kilometres away, another girl her age wrings her hand together, wide-eyed on the hospital bed. She recalls her father talking to her that morning.

“Why must I go to the hospital, papa? I’m not sick, am I?”

“No, no absolutely not, my dear child, you are very healthy, that’s why. It’s just that...our family needs to survive.”

“Survive? What do you mean? Are we going to die soon?”

“No, no. Some things are hard to explain, mtoto wangu. But trust me, and be brave. Kuwa jasiri. It will be over soon.”

Kuwa jasiri. Kuwa jasiri. Kuwa jasiri.

The words chant repeatedly in her mind, like a haunting spell, as she is pushed into the surgical theatre on a gurney.

In my opinion, organ donation, in richer countries, is another chance at life for people who can afford it. A new kidney, liver, even a heart. A replacement for a part of the body beyond salvation due to a plethora of possible illnesses. If the operation turns out successful, the head surgeon’s and patient’s name will automatically be splashed all over the papers, signaling a happy ending to a grueling journey and a fresh start to a healthier life.

What we don’t see, however, is the silent sacrifice behind the scenes.

Behind every organ donation, whether the donor was alive or not, lies a big sacrifice. If the donor is alive, they lose not only a vital part of their physical being, but also a piece of themselves. Yet, they are unrecognised, invisible beings behind the miracle. Shouldn’t they also be credited for - literally - giving new life to somebody else?

However, in some poorer, less-developed countries, like the above scenario of the African girl, some parents have to resort to selling their organs or their children’s organs to scrape together enough money to survive. Some of these children are oblivious to the surgical procedure, much less that a part of them will be gone forever. Due to low levels of sanitation and hygiene, some of them might lose their lives in the process or be subject to all kinds of bacterial infection or even hemorrhaging.

Is it not sick, then, that the rich should take advantage of the poor?

That is why I feel that behind every successful organ transfer lies another person’s suffering or death. More often than not, the donor is of a lower social status than the recipient.

So the next time we see a newspaper article on another successful organ transplant, may we not just celebrate for the recipient, but also think of the anonymous donor thousands of miles away, and be grateful for their quiet, hopeful sacrifice.

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)