The eyes have it

Or not. I was quite interested by this story about organ donation and how many people don't give permission for their corneas to be donated. 1.2 million. That's quite a few. The reason this caught my attention is because I'm one of them. I'm registered as an organ donor although I selected to donate everything except my corneas and my heart. I've been blessed with good eyesight and, so far, haven't developed the need for glasses or contact lenses. In my case it's because I'm horribly squeamish about eyeballs. Even pictures of eyes make me feel quite sick. And don't get me started on the ad that's currently on telly which has loads of eyeballs on sticks walking around (that is, people dressed as eyeballs - still bad enough thank you very much).

And the heart? I was born with a congenital heart defect which, although now fixed, probably means they wouldn't want that organ anyway. Interestingly, the article goes on to say that the heart is the second least popular organ to donate.

Thing is, now I feel a bit guilty. If we all refuse to donate our corneas and hearts there will be a shortage. Well there already is a shortage but maybe we could reduce that if we weren't squeamish or worried about symbolism or whatever. Is that fair? To ask someone to trade their beliefs to give the gift of life? Tricky. And not a question I think could be answered satisfactorily.