Yesterday, on ABC’s The Bachelor TV show, an insensitive comment was used about a ‘cadaver’ donor. The word “cadaver” should not have been used. Many donor families – people with a family member who died and donated his or her organs after death – are upset at the use of the word ‘cadaver’. Because each family’s loved one was a person, loved and cherished, and not just a dead body. Many donor families are outraged.
My mother received her transplant in 1988 and the word ‘cadaver’ was used. That was the word used by the medical community back then to indicate the organ transplanted was from a deceased person. Later, it was considered insensitive. Mom stopped using the word “cadaver” too, although any donor who has received a transplant never thinks of their donor as a ‘cadaver’ or a dead person. They think of them as their angel. Mom’s donor was the first person she wanted to meet in heaven after she paid her respects to God.
Words. Yes, words can hurt. But, let’s not get hung up on words. Why not get hung up on the fact that over 120,000 people are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant? To be an organ donor in the event of sudden or unexpected death is one of the noblest things anyone can do for their fellow man.
Become an organ donor! I promise someone will call you an angel.