An annual report from the Brazilian Association of Organ Transplants (ABTO) released this week (6th) points out that the rate of family refusal to donate organs has increased to 47%, the highest in a decade. The donation completion rate does not reach 30%.
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Lawyer and businesswoman Patrícia Sibin Barbosa de Oliveira, aged 48, decided to raise the flag in favor of the importance of organ donation and created a page on Instagram to draw attention to the topic.
On social media, Patrícia talks about the subject from the perspective of a mother who didn't know if her son was a donor and had to make this decision in the face of the greatest pain she has ever experienced in her life.
“We need to talk about organ donation with our children”, warns Patrícia.
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Just over nine months ago, she had to face alone the decision of whether or not to donate the organs of her son Fernando, who died after being run over at the age of 23 after leaving a party in São João da Boa Vista, in the interior of São Paulo.
The businesswoman has always spoken openly with family and friends about her intention to be an organ donor; she had never spoken to her son about the topic.
“I never imagined I would go through this and that's why I didn't know what his wishes were”, he says. “I did my will, I donated all the organs possible and I don’t regret it. It was the most beautiful thing to know that I was able to save other lives”, said Patrícia, emotional when remembering the accident and the decision to donate the organs when he became brain dead.
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In a moving story, Patrícia says that she was approached with “all care and welcome” by the organ donation team.
“Fernando was a very healthy boy, so much so that he was in a coma for around 20 days after the accident. He only had a scar on his forehead. Why not donate? His organs could save other lives, and they did!”, he remembers.
Rigorous and rewarding process
The businesswoman says that the donation process is rigorous and involves a thorough interview, and only then can the state transplant center be contacted to find compatible recipients who are already on a waiting list.
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“The day the teams arrived to collect the organs, I was there. I went to hug my son for the last time and wanted to follow the whole process up close. When they found out that I was the donor's mother, the professionals came to hug me and thank me. At that time I cried a lot, they looked like angels were there comforting me. The surgeons and nurses were very gentle and treated my son like a soul there and not like a body,” she says.
When the team went to collect the organs, everyone applauded.
“At that moment, the sky descended on the hospital or we ascended to the sky, I have no explanation. It was very beautiful and moving. Fernando was able to donate his heart, liver, kidneys and corneas. He couldn't donate his lungs because he got a hospital infection. There were two air teams, with Military Police planes, and one on the ground. What I know is that Fe's heart went to Belo Horizonte and his liver went to Passos. I heard that the corneas went to Pouso Alegre, but I’m not sure,” he recalls.
For Patrícia, it is as if her son still lives in 6 other people. 🧡
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(Source: Einstein Agency)
@curtonews Organ donations here in Brazil have reached the lowest level in the last 10 years. 😞 #CurtoNews ♬ original sound – Curto News
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