There is an invisible thread that connects what we write on this blog because last week I read Dr. Gioia Piazzi’s article with great interest and I realize that without knowing it we would both have mentioned the same topic even if for different reasons.
A few weeks ago I went to the town hall to have my identity card renewed. Sitting behind the glass of the table that separated me from the girl in charge of the service, I suddenly heard myself asked: “Organ and tissue donor?”
It must have been about a second from the time the question hit my processing system and subsequently generated a clear “Yes”! In that second, however, there were really a lot of thoughts made on the matter.
Before that moment I had only talked to friends and acquaintances about organ donation, I had never been faced with a decision to put in writing. As I usually do, I shared this event with someone and if many, like me, gave their consent, others instinctively said “No”.
It must have been therefore, following these sharings that I asked myself: “What thought is hidden behind the choice to say a “Yes” instead of a “No” and vice versa?
The topic can be tackled from many points of view and my intention is to stimulate reflection on a very delicate topic.
A friend of mine told his personal story in a film produced by Rai Cinema “Amici per la pelle”. Filippo Laganà, my friend, found himself on the side of those who received the liver transplant that saved his life. I asked him how he felt about this issue before the event and he simply replied “Before I found myself in this situation, it was something I had never thought about”. Filippo also tells me that there is still not enough information on the subject and that we need to talk more about it to make people more aware of the importance of this gesture.
Filippo also tells me something very nice: “When we have to decide between Yes and No we should only think about the fact that that little word will change someone’s destiny”. And I add that if one day this gesture of mine can change someone’s life, it will mean that I could no longer do anything with that organ.
Saying this forces us to deal with issues such as: life and death.
Filippo doesn’t like how I say it, in fact he says it better: “life is beautiful as long as you can feel good, have fun, live! If you can’t do it anymore, due to natural causes or something else… leave it to those who, thanks to your gesture, can continue to do it. It’s a beautiful gift.”
The news of a thirteen-year-old boy who will continue to live thanks to the liver transplant of another child has recently arrived and my thoughts immediately turn to a consideration: if the parents of the child who unfortunately lost his life hadn’t decided to make the gesture of allowing organ harvesting, now the children who are no longer there would be two. Instead, Francesco, this is the name of the child who saved his life, will continue to live, love, have fun and make his dreams come true.
I think back to those who answered “No” to the point-blank question. I ask myself: “Can we disagree, or by denying consent do we drive out of mind the fact that one day, for who knows what causes, our life will end?”
Maybe someone will want to answer or maybe that someone who said “No” will connect to the site https://aido.it/esprimi-il-tuo-si/ and in just three minutes they will be able to make a difference and fix it.
Because if in some cases knowing how to say “NO” saves your life (from bad situations, from disappointing relationships), in this case saying “YES” saves the life of another human being. And this seems to me a beautiful gesture of love. As Filippo says “A beautiful gift”.
Valeria Verna
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