Organ Donation: A Persuasive Speech by Mikayla Nogueira

Introduction:
Attention:
I. My name is Mikayla Nogueira and I met my best friend unexpectedly during my
freshman year at Bryant back in 2016. We happened to sit next to each other at dinner one
evening and formed a connection immediately. We currently live together and spend
hours each day with one another.
A. I would be lost without my best friend. Yet, back in 2015, what happened to him
may have prevented me from meeting him, and I would not be able to call him my
best friend today.
B. The local newspaper The Andover Townsman wrote an article sharing this story
titled “A Young Man With Heart Spreads Hope on Thanksgiving.”
C. In 2015, my best friend Greg Wang was moments from heart failure. He was born
with Danon disease, a condition so rare that less than 100 people have been
diagnosed with it worldwide. It enlarges the heart and affects the heart beat’s
pace.
D. On Thanksgiving evening in 2014, Greg was told he was going to die if he did not
have a heart transplant.
1. He waited months by the phone, waiting to hear that they found a heart for
him. In the meantime, he was put on heavy medications and had a
pacemaker put into his chest. On a few occasions, he was rushed to the
Intensive Care Unit to be resuscitated. Yet, him and his family did not lose
hope.
E. In the summer of 2015, they found a heart for Greg. A perfect match. This heart
transplant saved his life. The simple action an individual took to sign up to be on
the organ donation list, saved my best friend, Greg Wang’s, life.
F. This story makes me passionate. Passionate about saving lives, and Organ
Donation is one way to do that.
Thesis: Today, I want to share with you the importance of Organ Donation and
how you can become an Organ Donor too.

Body:
Need:
I. To help you better understand organ donation I first want to define it for you
A. To put it simply, organ donation is when an organ or multiple organs is removed
from one person and placed into another person. In some cases, organs may also
be used for medical research.
B. Many bodily organs can be removed including the liver, kidney, heart, pancreas,
lungs, and more.
II. The statistics surrounding organ donations and the need for transplants are truly shocking.
 The following statistics that I am going to share with you are all directly from the official
Government website for Organ Donation:
A. The need for organs is truly dire. Over 120,000 men, women, and children are on
the national transplant waiting list as of late 2017, and every 10 minutes another
person is added.
B. In 2016, only 30% of the individuals on the waiting list received a transplant. That
equals to 35,000 transplants that were possible due to over 42,000 organs that
were donated.
1. With that being said, 20 people die each day waiting for a transplant. That
is over 7,300 people a year. 7,300 people too many. This is a number that
we have the power to change. The power to decrease.
C. The list for transplants has been significantly increasing since 1991, as shown by
this graph. As you can see, it is a staggering climb. Yet, the increase in transplants
and donors has barely seen any progress from 1991 to 2015.
D. Surveys distributed by the Government website for Organ Donation state that
over 95% of U.S adults say they support Organ Donation. However, only 54% of
U.S adults are actually registered as a donor.
Satisfaction:
I. Today, I urge you to hear my plea, and greatly consider the information I have just shared
with you.
A. One donor can save as many as eight lives with their heart, lungs, liver, pancreas,
two kidneys, and intestines.
B. With each student in this class and the professor included, there are 21 of us. 21 of
us, who have the potential to save as many as 168 lives.
C. I am going to share with you three motivations for Organ Donation, which
includes medical advancements, the opportunity to give back, and the
misconception of body mutilation after death.
II. According to the article Organ Donors from the American College of Chest Physicians,
Organ Donation has been transforming due to its shortage. Doctors Steven Nathan and
Christopher King express that since the 1950’s when Organ Donation became possible,
they would harvest organs only from “brain dead” individuals.
A. Yet, as medicine has advanced, they have recently been able to harvest organs
from individuals who are declared DCD, or “Donation After Cardiac Death”
patients. In other words, they are now able to take organs from an individual
whose heart has stopped; typically if it is within a 60 minute time period after
death. Only 12% of Organ Donations are currently DCD, but that number is
rising, making it significantly more important that more individuals register to be
on the Organ Donation list.
III. For many individuals who are nearing the end of their life, they see organ donation as one
last chance to give back. One last chance to be important and make a difference.
A. The New England Journal of Medicine posted an article titled, The Dead-Donor
 Rule and the Future of Organ Donation, where Doctor Scott Halpern and his
colleagues stated “When death is very near, some patients may want to die in the
process of helping others to live, even if that means altering the timing or manner
of their death.”
B. Therefore, yes, organ donation is saving lives, but it is also giving the end of your
life an even more important purpose. It is giving others hope. It is giving others
the future that they may lose without a transplant.
IV. A common misconception with Organ Donations is that it may mutilate the body or
prevent you from having a proper burial. This is far from the case.
A. The organs are harvested from your body immediately once the opportunity
happens. A surgeon removes the organ(s) carefully and stitches the body up in a
proper manner. Which, then allows the body to be prepared for burial just as any
other body would be.
V. These three motivations make it all the more important and worthwhile to donate.

Visualization:
I. Remember my best friend Greg Wang? Imagine if he had not had his heart transplant. He
was only 17 at the time. A high school junior who was in the process of applying to
college. He had his future ahead of him. But if he did not have his heart transplant, his
future would not exist. His mother and father would lose their son. Timmy and Brendan
would lose a brother. Kids at school would lose a friend. I would have never met Greg
Wang.
II. He would have never entered the Honors program at Bryant University. He would have
never started an internship at the Make A Wish Foundation. He wouldn’t be here.

Conclusion:
Action:
I. Now the question is, what can you do? Today I ask you to sign up to become an Organ
Donor. With everything I have shared with you today, from the statistics to the
motivations for Organ Donation, I hope you understand my plea. There are two ways to
sign up to become an Organ Donor
A. First, you can go to your local RMV or DMV and sign an Organ Donor form or
check off the Organ Donor box when receiving your license or renewing it.
B. Second, you can go to organdonor.gov and fill out their five minute form to
register.
II. This action is simple and takes very little time. Remember, Organ Donation starts with
you. Be the one to save lives. Be the one to make a difference. Thank you.