It is astounding to me, and achingly sad, that with eighty thousand people on the waiting list for donated hearts and livers and kidneys, with sixteen a day dying there on that list, that more then half of the people in the position H's family was in will say no, will choose to burn those organs or let them rot. We abide the surgeon's scalpel to save our own lives, out loved ones' lives, but not to save a stranger's life. H has no heart, but heartless is the last thing you'd call her. Mary Roach
About This Quote

The quote above is very telling as to what H's family was thinking as they were willing to let organs rot instead of saving someone else's life. The problem with this quote is that it implies that those who do not donate organs are heartless and don't care for other people. Even if someone is heartless and cold, there is still a sense of guilt and regret because the person with the cold heart has no idea how much pain they could have saved another person with their organs. This is not true with most donors, as most feel great guilt and regret after their organ donation.

Source: Stiff: The Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers

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