LIFE

Give and let live

Life, Pimrapee Thungkasemvathana, Published on 11/03/2014

» Picture a motorbike messenger delivering your dying mother, father, sister or lover a heart for transplant. The donated heart must be preserved in a solution at about 4C and can only remain viable for transplant for no more than four hours, though a kidney can last up to 24 hours. And not all dead bodies are viable for organ donation. Only donors who have been declared brain-dead by three doctors, or on life support and with functioning disease-free organs, will be considered. More importantly, the organ must match the body of the recipient.