Face transplant patient is revealed
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
Otherwise, I guess maybe people aren't for religious reasons? I'm not sure on that.
My cousin died a few years back. He had an untreated cavity that turned very infectious. Now, a few months later, he got out of the shower and just died. The doctor said that he seemed to have died before he even hit the ground..
In the same room as the doctor explaining that "We dont know what killed your son" were the body harvesters. All they could do was to pressure the parents, my uncle and aunt, to donate every part of his body, even though they had no idea WHAT killed him.
I do find these body parts people just plain disgusting. To these people, "No" means keep pestering more.
And yes, I also do worry that if a RN or doctor sees that donor card, they might not do as good of a job to save me. Not that they would do _bad_, but they would quit sooner than a non-donor.
In a perfect rational world, 100% of the population would be donors. But we are really just animals who make animal decisions. I acknowledge my humanity.
Saving lives is more important than your feelings.
If somebody makes a conscious decision and goes about to explicitly allow harvesting, then so be it. Decision's done.
Instead, these people prey on organs from the recently deceased. In my case, he died not knowing what killed him. It was an infection of sorts but we just don't know. He didn't make a decision about harvesting after he was gone, so they should respect his wishes (or lack thereof).
They're trying to save lives. Make no mistake, people's lives are jeopardized every time someone decides that the integrity of a corpse is more important.
Edit to add: the description of medical professionals as "preying" on the dead is an odd one. One cannot prey on dead bodies, which have no thoughts or feelings. The only problem with what they do is the effect on the feelings of the living (e.g. yourself) but as I indicated, saving lives is more important. Sorry.
My girlfriend, a cancer survivor, envisions a young adult cancer charity that focuses on the cosmetic aspects of treatment: paying for wigs, teaching girls how to do makeup. At first, I thought her idea was missing the point, but then she explained to me how uplifting it is to have some modicum of control over your appearance during treatment and recovery.
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2004/1/...
Not strange. Actual pain has known bounds, but if you have some unsightliness, you never know what people are thinking. Socially, you might be a monster--and you can't tell.
Also, faces (i.e. skin) is actually the easiest organ to grow, and doesn't need stem cells. I read about a burn victim where they took some skin from under his belt buckle (The only non burned skin on him), and stretched, then split, then stretched some more till they were able to cover him (took months).