Organ donor hero

IT is not every week that The Southern Cross finds itself in the happy position of being able to publish genuinely good news (as opposed to the Good News). This week, however, we do so in the knowledge that this newspaper can indeed be a force for good.

We first published our appeal for a kidney for teenager Emile Leaner in September. Within four months a suitable donor has come forward, and major hurdles towards a kidney transplant have been cleared.

The hero of the story is Benedictine Brother Maximilian Kolbe Jacobs, who in his selflessness towards a stranger is emulating the example set by his patron and namesake.

The Benedictine community at Inkamana Abbey, which has backed Br Maximilian’s difficult decision, may feel validated in that its charism has inspired such a compassionate gesture.

There have been other heroes. Many readers responded in one way or another to our story, providing an example of Christian charity in action.
In publishing our appeal for Emile, to coin a phrase, we hoped to raise consciousness for organ donation.

Live organ donation, it must be said, requires a special vocation. Most people do not have the courage of Br Maximilian – but some do.

Significantly, Br Maximilian did not act on an impulse, but reached his decision after many weeks of prayer and discernment before arriving at the decision (for a second time) that he indeed had that vocation.

For those of us who lack his calling, there are simpler ways of helping to save a life. Donating blood, for example, is an effortless, risk-free and widely available option.

Ensuring that arrangements are made for the donation of organs after one’s death (and encouraging others to do likewise) represents another opportunity.

This is an arena where the struggle for what Pope John Paul calls “a genuine culture of life” can be intensified.

As we did in September, we echo Pope John Paul’s compelling argument for organ donation: “It is not a matter of giving away something that belongs to us, but of giving something of ourselves. There is a need to instil in people’s hearts, a genuine and deep appreciation of the need for brotherly love, a love that can find expression in the decision to become an organ donor.”