Lake Highlands 2010 grad Callie Herod is on a mission. Her friend, 2010 J.J. Pearce grad Brooke Benedict, has Goodpasture’s Syndrome and desperately needs a new kidney. “Ultimately,” Callie candidly admits, “she will die without it.”
The two became friends through their moms, who both work for Mary Kay Cosmetics. Callie is now a sophomore at the University of Virginia. Brooke has put her dreams of attending TCU on hold – she simply isn’t well enough.
Brooke is on the organ donor list, but so are 110,000 other people – and 90,000 of those need kidneys, too. Four thousand more will be added each day, and 18 people daily will die waiting.
In some countries, organs for transplants are plentiful – no one languishes on the waiting list while their body weakens and fails. In these “presumed consent” countries, such as Austria, if you don’t “opt out,” your organs are automatically donated if they match a person in need. Comparable measures have been proposed in the U.K.
Brooke wants to see similar legislation here in the U.S., and she’s taking to Youtube to make it happen. She wants her video to get 1 million hits to capture the attention of lawmakers. And she hopes that viewers will spread the words to friends, family members and folks in the community.
“Each of us,” imagines Callie, “at the end of life when we are finished with our organs, can help up to 50 people continue to live or to live better lives. That is something worth doing, a gift worth giving.”
If you want to become an organ donor, learn more here.
