LETTERS TO ORGAN DONOR FAMILIES
Once an organ donors family makes the decision to donate his or her organs to save lives, initial communication between the organ donor family and the recipient is handled by the transplant coordinator. The contact information of both the donor family and the recipient is confidential. The transplant coordinator, upon request, will sends letters from the recipient to the donor family and vice versa, and it is the decision of the donor family as to whether they want to begin open communication with the recipient, and it is the decision of the recipient as to they will participate in open communication. Most recipients write to their donor families thanking them for the gift of life they have been given. It is rare that they would choose not to write the donor families. As a recipient myself, I can't imaging not having written my donor family to express my profound gratitude, still I know that some recipients have reasons for choosing not to write. Some have told me that they struggle with what to say to the donor family and, as such, may not respond, or at least, not for quite a long time. I struggled too with finding the right words to express my gratitude, but my advice to organ recipients is that if or when you decide to write a letter to your donor family, simply express what is in your heart. You can't imagine how much that will be appreciated. The following video features donor families who are heart broken because they have never received letters from the recipients of their loved one's organs to express their appreciation:
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