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The Donor Party

In Doing The Deed by Holly Walker

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I looked for organ donor confirmation on my driver’s license … and it wasn’t there.

Today’s good deed: BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR

I could have sworn I had a little pink dot on my driver’s license. Maybe it was a jelly stain.

I went on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services site and found a little tab on the bottom of the page that said ‘Register Today.’ It lead me to my state’s website.

The form on the California site is incredibly easy to fill out, but to be honest, I found it a little unsettling. They listed different organs and tissues that could be donated: the heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys, lungs, bones … It got me thinking about my own mortality. Ugh. Who wants to do that?

Then I noticed the writer of the site missed a comma between ‘organ’ and ‘eye’ in describing what I could donate. They wrote ‘organ eye.’ If they missed something as simple as a comma maybe one day they could miss the fact that I’m not actually dead and yank out my organ eye before I’m done using it. Panic started to set in.

Images of doctors feasting on my body like The Walking Dead exploded in my mind. MDs pulling out my organs, ravaging my semi-dead body, leaving nothing behind except my wit and my deliciously chocolate-colored skin. Wait? They can take my skin too?!? Noooooo!!!!!!!

I had to read Stories of Hope on the website to calm myself down.

I read about Brittany Crawford, a 20-year-old whose life was cut short in a tragic car accident. Though she was gone, her donation allowed 4 people to live. The foundation, set up in her name, educates people on organ donation and, to this day, helps countless more.

I read about Erick Peña, also in his 20’s, who received a double lung transplant. Erick wrote to his anonymous donor: “I’m not gonna waste what you lost. I’m gonna live life good enough for two people.”

I read that every day about 79 people receive organ transplants. However, 18 people also die every day because of donor shortage.

I read facts like if you are sick or injured and admitted to a hospital, the number 1 priority is to save your life … so the whole Walking Dead Zombie Doctor thing probably won’t happen.

And I thought about my friend Mikey Hann who’s been on the waiting list for a kidney donation for a long time. He founded The Life-alysis Foundation which brings love, laughter and inspiration to people with kidney disease so they may achieve a higher quality of life. His life, as well as countless other lives, is worth saving.

So that’s it! I’ve decided! I am going to donate my organs! I would hate to die, but if in my death I can save someone, then donating an organ will be worth it. I can do good deeds even after I’m gone! I’m going to bravely submit this form and …

Oh … I AM already registered. Interesting.

Please disregard this entire blog.

Photo (Flickr CC) by Jan Bommes

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Holly Walker

Ms. Walker made her acting debut at the tender age of 8 in For Spring is the Season of Happiness. She almost turned down the role of Mother Nature (she wanted the role of "Spring") until she found out Mother Nature had the most lines. On that day, a diva was born. Holly has traveled the world performing comedy. She has been to more than 40 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide. She is an alum of the improvisational companies Boom Chicago and The Second City. Holly currently works on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore as a writer and performer. She has been a part of the Rebel Storytellers family since 2009 and hopes to be with them for many years to come.
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