Yesterday an article from BC caught our eye. It brought our attention back to the concept of “presumed consent” (where everyone would automatically be a potential donor). We talked about this a bit previously. At the time we thought it was a good idea, but not the reality right now, and certainly not the complete solution. It still remains that taking away the requirement to sign up to be a donor alone does not improve the number of organ donations. But (and this is the lightbulb moment), if you remove the requirement to sign up, we potentially remove 1/2 the battle! What remains is the requirement to talk to your family about your wishes – and making that conversation common and natural. (Ok, we recognize this is a huge undertaking all by itself).

There are a few issues …. like the fact that if someone takes the time to sign up to be an organ donor, families may be more likely to honour those wishes. We want to explore this issue a little further – we’ll be gathering information and will bring our findings back here.

In the meantime – this is not our reality. We need you to sign up to be a donor, and talk to your family. Be inspired by Jim’s story.