Giving and Receiving the Ultimate Gift

by Jesse Hunter

foonfoon 譯

Giving and Receiving the Ultimate Gift

生命最后的饋贈

by Jesse Hunter

foonfoon 譯

The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation.

—Peter Marshall

Track 2

I grew up as an only child. I never thought much about it at the time, other than wanting to have a brother around to play catch with. Now I think, “What would happen if I needed a kidney or bone marrow transplant or something?” Without any siblings, and having almost no blood relatives at all, would I be able to fnd a viable match? Wait! I just realized, that sounds a bit selfish, doesn’t it? I should be more worried about helping others, rather than them helping me.

In this month’s first feature, Professor Barbara Russell Chesser teaches us An Even Greater Lesson, which she learned from one of her most beloved students, whose death broke the hearts of many but saved the lives of many as well. And, if you want to learn more about how An Act of Giving Truly Changes—and Saves—Lives, check out our second feature by T.J. Maciak, who miraculously survived massive kidney failure thanks to two different transplants, and is now a world class athlete competing in the World Transplant Games since 2006. For our third feature, Ryan’s Hope, Nancy Lee Doige tells the story of a young boy who lost his life too soon, but whose generous posthumous donation helped save the lives of other youths in need.

Reading this month’s stories, I was brought to tears on several occasions. I’d reckon to say that most, if not all, of us, at one point or another, fear death’s icy grasp upon us. But I’d also imagine that, when that fateful day comes, as I drift off into the great beyond, it would be comforting to know that the parts of me that were still functioning could save the lives of those who need them.

我是家里的獨子。對此，我從來沒有想太多，只是偶爾想要一個兄弟陪我玩傳球游戲。現在我想：“如果我需要做腎或者骨髓或者其他什么移植手術，那該怎么辦呢？”沒有任何兄弟姐妹，也幾乎沒什么血親，我能找到匹配的器官嗎？慢著！我剛剛才意識到，那聽起來有點兒自私，不是嗎？我更應該想著去幫助別人，而不是讓別人來幫助我。

在本月的第一篇主題文章中，芭芭拉·拉塞爾·切瑟教授教會了我們《生命中更為重要的一課》，這是她從自己最心愛的其中一位學生身上學到的，這個學生的死亡打碎了許多人的心，但同時也挽回了許多條生命。此外，如果你想要了解更多關于《拯救生命的給予》的故事，那么請看我們的第二篇主題文章，由T·J·馬齊爾克執筆。多虧了兩次不同的腎移植手術，他奇跡般地從嚴重的腎衰竭中生還下來，現在是一名世界級的運動員，自2006年起就一直參加世界移植運動會。而在我們的第三篇主題文章—《賴安的希望》中，南希·李·多伊奇講述了一個生命太過短暫的小男孩的故事，他在死后慷慨地將自己的器官捐贈出來，拯救了許多需要幫助的年輕人的生命。

閱讀這個月的主題故事，我的眼淚有好幾次都已奪眶而出。我猜想，不說所有人，我們大多數人，多多少少總是害怕死神那冷冰冰的手把我們抓住。但我也可以想象得到，當注定的那一天到來，我慢慢地去往彼岸之時，得知我身體一些還在運作的部分能幫到那些需要它們的人，拯救他們的生命，我會深感安慰。……