Organ donation is giving an organ to help someone who needs a transplant. Kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas and the small bowel can all be transplanted. Transplants are one of the biggest achievements of modern medicine and can save or greatly enhance the lives of other people. However, they depend completely on donors and their families consenting to organ or tissue donation. One donor can save the life of several people, restore the sight of two others and improve the quality of life of many more.

There are two different kinds of transplant donations:

1. Living Donor Transplant – This occurs when a living person decides to donate his or her organ(s) to someone in need of a transplant. Living donors are usually family members or close friends of the person who requires a transplant. They must meet certain medical criteria and undergo comprehensive medical testing, as required by the particular circumstance, before being accepted as suitable donors.

2. Deceased Donor Transplant – This is when organs from a brain dead individual are transplanted into the body of a living recipient. The deceased individual in this scenario can only be a victim of brain death. This kind of transplant initially requires the recipient to wait on a list until a suitable organ is available based on the recipient’s medical profile.

A deceased donor is kept on a ventilator after he or she has been declared brain dead until the organs can be harvested. A brain dead person’s organs may stay alive for a varied time period; this period may range from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. However, once the organs have been removed from the body and stored in a chemical solution, they have limited life spans. The length of time donated organs and tissues can be kept outside the body, before transplantation is to occur, vary:

Heart: 4-6 hours
Liver: 12-24 hours
Kidney: 48-72 hours
Heart-Lung: 4-6 hours
Lung: 4-6 hours

Organs that can be donated for transplantation include kidneys, heart, lungs, liver, small bowel and pancreas. Tissues that can be donated include eyes, heart valves, bone, skin, veins and tendons.

A person who is brain dead may appear alive -- there may be a heartbeat, they may look like they're breathing, their skin may still be warm to the touch. But doctors say there is no life when brain activity ceases.

Brain death is a legal definition of death. It is the complete stopping of all brain function and cannot be reversed. It means that, because of extreme and serious trauma or injury to the brain, the body's blood supply to the brain is blocked, and the brain dies. Brain death is death. It is permanent.