I recently came across a news item about an American prisoner awaiting execution. The man has requested the authorities to delay his execution so that he can donate his liver to his sister who needs a transplant. He has explained that he wants to give his sick sister a new life if the doctors say that he is fit to donate his organ. According to doctors, the rates of success of such operations are extremely high if the donor is a close relative.
The news caught my attention because I have been contemplating a similar idea for some time now. I have even raised the matter in earlier discussions. Unfortunately, my idea was met by vehement opposition from many who saw in it an unusual proposal.
Life is a combination of joys and sorrows and sometimes painful solutions are required for the problems we encounter. All the countries in our region enforce the death penalty. Lately death sentences have been on the rise because of an increase in the number of people apprehended for drug-related crimes. As may as 300 executions might have recently been carried out in the region for various crimes, according to some statistics.
Why should we not try to convince a drug trafficker sentenced to death to donate one of his organs for transplanting and saving another life? I think we should seriously consider approaching persons on death row and convince them that the reward they would gain in the hereafter is worth giving part of their body to help save the life of another person. This is a humanitarian issue that I think could win the hearts and minds of people. That American man waiting for the electric chair set a good example for others to follow.
