Organ donation and transplantation: the case of Kaylee and Lillian
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It’s something right out of Grey’s Anatomy. Kaylee is two months old and was on life support. After much heartrending consideration, her parents decided to take her off life support and committed to donate her organs to other needy babies.
On the other side of the coin is one-month-old Lillian, waiting for a matching heart for transplantation in order to survive.
To the surprise of everybody, including her doctors, Kaylee could breathe on her own without life support equipment. Because of this, Kaylee is not eligible for organ donation. Lillian has been put back on the organ waiting list. Both babies are fighting for their lives.
It’s an emotional roller coaster for the parents of both Kaylee and Lillian. Kaylee’s parents who were resigned to losing their little daughter are now caught between hope and fear because Kaylee’s condition can still go either way. Lillian’s parents are also in the same situation of hope and uncertainty. Will their baby get a new heart in exchange of Kaylee’s life?
Last year, several articles the August issue of the New England Journal of Medicine looked at pediatric heart transplants. According to one study, about 400 heart transplants are performed in American children every year and about of 100 these are performed in children younger than 1 year. In addition, up to 50 babies who are on heart transplant waiting list do not survive the waiting time.
However, heart donation and transplantation is a very sensitive topic because of the clinical and ethical question involved. Death and transplantation should occur almost simultaneously so that the heart function is not completely lost and can be restarted to beat in the recipient’s body. Donation, however, is only possible when the donor has been declared clinically dead. Unfortunately, despite advances in medical science, the definition of “death” is not clear cut. Should it be based on brain death or cardiac death criteria? If heart function can be restored (albeit in another person’s body) after the death has been declared, was there a chance that it could have been restarted in the donor’s body to revive him/her? How long should we keep a loved one on life support?
I advocate organ donation and I have an organ donor card. I also have 2 young children and I only hope I wouldn’t be in the position to choose between giving up on my child to save another child’s life. Or have my child in an organ waiting list for that matter. But life is not always fair and these scenarios can happen to anyone.
To Kaylee’s and Lillian’s parents, I wish you all the strength and courage in your trying times.
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