The bumper sticker on the car in front of me read, “Don’t take
your organs to heaven – heaven knows we need them here.” It got
me thinking about my college roommate, who was a kidney
transplant recipient. After facing years of dialysis for a
kidney condition with which he had been born, he received a
cadaveric (from a deceased donor) kidney transplant. It
transformed his life. He later became a physician. We have lost
touch over the years, but I have no doubt that gift has enabled
him to make a valuable contribution back to his community. In
many ways, it was a gift of life. In the United States, there
are more than 100,000 people on the organ transplant waiting
list. Each day, an average of 79 people receive organ
transplants while an average of 18 people die waiting for a
transplant that was not available. Among the most common organs
transplanted are kidney, heart, liver and lung. The medical
science is sufficiently advanced that organ transplantation has
become an acceptable treatment for organ failure, a