A Georgia man wants to push the boundaries of organ donation. Gary Phebus, ALS victim, wants to donate his organs before he dies. Currently the law states that a person must be brain dead before their organs can be donated. Phebus says that he’s “dead already.”
ALS is a debilitating, fatal disease that attacks the nervous system and muscles. ALS sufferers eventually become unable to do the basic things necessary for survival. You eventually become unable to control your muscle function necessary to breathe, eat, move or do anything at all. ALS is more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease after the famous Yankee star who died from the disease.
Gary Phebus was diagnosed with ALS in 2008. Since he’s noticed deterioration in his condition he started looking into organ donation. He wants to donate his heart, liver and lungs while they’re still healthy.
This story of Gary Phebus, ALS victim who wants to donate his organs before he dies opens up many ethical and moral dilemmas. When can a person who has a fatal disease determine his/her own fate? Would it be ethical for a surgeon to remove vital organs, in essence killing a person even if it’s their dying wish? What about the right to life? What about the right to die? What about the thousands upon thousands of people waiting for healthy organs who would benefit?
No matter what happens, the story of Gary Phebus, ALS victim who wants to donate his organs before he dies is heart wrenching; hard to find a happy ending here. In my humble opinion though, it’s always best to choose life.
This whole thing is a moot point. Gary can live for decades with als. Further he can heal himself.
The condition called als develops when factors and patterns in a person’s life come togehter in a certain way.
Adjust what is going on with those factors and patterns and instead of things going downhill, they get better.
That goes for people with unhealthy organs too, by the way. They can heal and thus not need the transplants any more.
So there is a way for there to be a happy ending to this story. People just need to learn to heal themselves and to get to work.
Marty Murray, the sentiments you expressed are those of a lunatic.
ALS is invariably fatal with our current medical knowledge. If you know of a method for curing ALS, you will win the Nobel Prize simply by writing it up and demonstrating it to the medical community. If you do not, then stop your offensive nonsense.
Tommy C, I am in the process of doing just that.
To further understand how als is created and how it can be solved, see the work I have posted online along with the work of others such as Gabor Mate, Steve Shackel, Evy Mcdonald, Bruce Lipton and Craig Oster.
The idea that als is not solvable is ridiculous.
People used to believe that the earth is flat and that the entire universe revolved around this planet. Little kids believe in Santa Claus.
Eventually people look back and see that what they believed was incorrect and that there were signs all along that the truth was different from their conception of things.
You can be one of the first to get a clue or one of the ones who cling to their misconceptions.