Giving of Yourself: Body Donation
April is National Donate Life Month (NDLM). If you have ever considered any type of body donation, it’s well worth your time to find out more about it and whether it is the right decision for you or your loved one. If you are already considering direct cremation, whole body donation may be a wonderful legacy to leave.
I don’t work for an organ and tissue bank, nor do I make any money from one. But as someone who genuinely cares about others, I unapologetically support it. The value of these donations is immeasurable. We all like to be thought of as generous, right? Voluntarily giving all or parts of our bodies after we’re gone saves or improves the lives of other people. Think about how generous that is! According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), a full organ donor will save or improve the lives of six to eight people, on average. A full tissue donor will impact the lives of 50 people or more!
You may have heard some misinformation about organ and tissue donation that unfortunately causes a lot of people to avoid it.
- Being a donor won’t cause doctors to not try as hard as they should to save you.
- Your gift won’t automatically be rejected because of an illness. There are lots of ways bodies can be used to help others.
- It won’t cost your family more for your final arrangements. The donor or donor family should never be charged anything. The patient, his/her insurance provider, or the organization that receives your ultimate gift takes care of the expenses.
In the case of whole body donations, you will likely still need the services of a funeral home. Unless it’s a whole body donation to a medical school, most medical research related organizations count on local funeral homes to work directly with the family on authorizations and other paperwork.
At Local Cremation and Funerals, we want to provide you with as much knowledge as you need. If you have question or concerns about organ and tissue donation or anything else related to end-of-life decisions, I encourage you to contact us. Our funeral directors will answer your questions or help direct you to body donation-related resources.
Local Cremation and Funerals provides cremation and simple burial services throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Contact us to set up an in-person meeting at our Dallas location. We also are available to meet with families at your home or a location of your choosing. Visit our website for a full list of the services available and Local Cremation and Funerals current pricing. Local Cremation is a Texas licensed funeral establishment and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
