In my bereavement work I was involved with 100,000 funerals. When a death occurs, people react in a multitude of different ways. The majority allow the bereavement to occupy their every thinking minute. The minority, a very small small minority, seem to view it differently, that it is not their death but somebody else’s. Consequently, they hold themselves apart and view the death as an opportunity. That opportunity is one whereby they can use the death to benefit somebody else. I found myself overwhelmed by these people, that they thought of others first and not themselves. When the death was of a child, that was perhaps the most difficult decision of their lives. However, that decision brought joy and relief to another person and their family. Donating body organs is an amazing decision.

Religion

Religious belief plays a fundamental part in such decisions. For instance, Catholics were very concious of what might happen should they die in an incomplete body state. Consequently, I was asked to cremate an amputated leg on a number of occasions. The law did not approve of this but neither did it specifically object. As a public servant, I agreed and the ashes were given back to the person. They might die in portions but would be entire at the point of judgement. That reminds me that when it comes to donating our bodies to medical science, non-believers and atheists were most likely to do this. Those of the Muslim and other faiths the least likely.

Donating body organs

There is just one issue that need concern us, the fact that the vast majority of people simply won’t discuss death. This, surely, is not the ideal way to come to terms with our mortality. The fact is, we die. Everything else out there dies, all trees, plants, animals and insects. The difference is that we are the only life form that is aware of this. Consequently, we struggle with death. The wonderful Anna-Louise Stubbings thought about this when she created the charity Believe Organ Donor Support after the death of her husband and child. We need to defeat the taboo about death and organ donation.