Serving Others

[machete]

Sikhism & Organ donation

A guide to organ donation

What is organ donation?

Organ donation is the gift of an organ to help someone else who needs a transplant. Hundreds of people lives are saved each year by an organ transplant. Organs that can be donated by people who have died are the heart, lungs, kidneys, Liver, pancreas and small bowel. Tissues such as skin, bone, heart valves and corneas can also be used to help others.

When can organ donation take place?

Doctors and nurses are committed to doing everything possible to save life. Organs are only removed for transplantation once all attempts to save life have failed and after death has been certified by a doctor or doctors who are entirely independent of the transplantation team. Most donated organs come from people who die from a serve brain injury and who receive treatment from a ventilator in an intensive care unit. The brain injury damages vital centers in the brain stem which are essential to maintain life. No one can live once these centers have been destroyed. Tests can show conclusively when this has happened. In some circumstances, patients who die in hospital but are not on a ventilator may also donate. They are called non-heart beating donors.

Consent

The consent or lack of objection, of those closest to the patient is always sought before organs can be donated. This is why it is so important for people to discuss their wishes with their loved ones. Donation is an individual choice and views differ even within the same religious groups. Many families who agree to organ donation have said “It helps to know that some good has come from our loss”

Care and respect

The removal of organs is carried out with greatest care and respect. The family can see the body afterwards and staff can contact a Chaplin or local religious leaders if the family wishes.

Where does Sikhi stand in regards to Organ donation?

The Sikh philosophy and teachings place great emphasis on the importance of giving to others, hence the free kitchen at every Sikh temple. Sikhs have in the past put others before themselves a great example of this is when Sri Guru Teg bahadur Ji sacrificed his live (he was beheaded) to defend the rights of the Hindu religion (a faith which he didn’t even practice). If Guru JI can give his life for the betterment of others, the least we can do is give our organs once we are dead to benefit others.

Commandments from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji:

“The dead sustain their bond with the living through virtuous deeds”

“The true servants of god are those who serve him through serving others (his creation)”

Real life example of how a Sikh man helped save five lives because he decided to become an organ donator when he was alive!

Jagmohan Singh Taank

Sikh Jagmohan Singh Taank fulfilled his Guru’s teachings when he donated his organs for transplant to help others. The thoughtful 6ft “gentle giant” made the final decision to donate much easier for his family by carrying a donor card and letting them know of his wish to donate organs before his death.

Jagmohan known as “Monna” to his family was a fit 26 year old security officer when he complained of a serve headache; he then collapsed and was rushed to an intensive care unit in Coventry, west midlands in August 2002.

His family flocked to his side, including his parents who flew in from Canada, and had time with him before the fight to save his life was judged hopeless. Monna’s Sister Mrs. Harjeet kaur Oghra said “for 3 days he lay in hospital the steady stream of people who came in to see him overwhelmed us. All these people wanted to see him, thank him, to say goodbye and to pledge their support to our family. People of every color, religion and age came to that little hospital cubicle to say farewell to the heart and soul of an angel. He was cared for by a fantastic team of medical professionals but in the end it was hopeless. There was no sign of life except the ventilator keeping him breathing- which he could not do on his own. No flicker of an eye or little cough - no sign at all that he was alive. Monna carried a donor card in his wallet; it was just like him to have planned for others in death when there was nothing else he could do to help them in life. We had an agonizing decision to make about the donation but we knew his wishes and his life time desire to live by Sikh teachings. As a family we came to the decision that monna was entitled to have his wishes fulfilled and live through the people who desperately needed him to give them a second chance at life. My parents agreed that the doctors could call the recipients to tell them they were going to get the chance that they had dreamed of since their diagnosis. Monna’s organs were transplanted into five people that day. Monna did his humanitarian duty and fulfilled his life as an honorable Sikh and in his Guru’s teachings, he gave hope to others. The fact that he helped give five people after his death, gives his death a meaning, like a silver lining on the darkest cloud imaginable. He died a young hero who recognized his true purpose in life is to help others; his gifts gave back a mother her child, a father back to his children, brothers back to their sisters and a son back to his parents. It is so important that the Asian community become aware of organ donation. Very few Asians donate there organs even though there is such a long waiting list of patients desperately needing them”.

To register, on the NHS Organ Donor register online visit:

www.uktransplant.org.uk

or ring 0845 60 60 400 for more info