Robert Zurrer, the man mentioned in an earlier post recently commented on my organ donation is ugly business post. First off I would like to thank Mr. Zurrer for responding, obviously he has a very special view of the issue. Here was Mr. Zurrer’s response:
You are looking into the eyes of your 8 year old daughter, whose kidney’s have failed. There is an 8 year waiting list in BC, and 8 years on dialysis will either kill or seriously disable her for life. Do you buy a kidney for your child, or do you watch her die a slow death?
Would you tell Mohammend Yar, the man who sold me his kidney, that he cannot sell his kidney to raise enough money to pay his debt and get his children and wife back from a kidnapper?
I wonder what your real answer would be.
Robert Zurrer
P.S. It became illegal in Pakistan 6 months after I bought my kidney.
I can imagine the suffering some parents go through when their children are ill and help is not available. I have seen it with my own family. But I would tell that parent they couldn’t rob a bank to buy their way to the front of the line. Life is unfair – horribly, cruelly unjust, but that doesn’t mean you get to hurt others because you’re suffering.
What would you tell Mohammend Yar if he sold you his kidney to buy a pair of Prada shoes, or a new car? If you make the cause something much less noble than rescuing women and children it doesn’t have quite the same emotional impact, and becomes much less black and white.
Another issue arises that when you allow people to purchase organs you end up with individuals like Amit Kumar. Imagine how you would feel waking up after being sedated at gun point to find someone had stolen something inside of you. Talk about violation of the worst kind!
What if it had been your heart that was in trouble? Should Mohammend Yar be allowed to sell his life? Perhaps the sum of money could be greater. His family is taken care of for life, his kids get to go to university, should it be allowed?
Organ donation and the serious lack of donors is something everyone should be concerned with. Even Hollywood and European TV are expressing their concern, in their own strange way:
http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2007/08/stopping-the-st.html
http://www.simplydumb.com/2007/07/18/kidney-hoax-ruffles-the-dutch/
Mr. Zurrer, can I assume that you support gay organ donation and stem cell research? While one only helps relieve the wait somewhat, the other may eliminate the need for donations all together.
It is not an easy issue, the big ones never are. As Mr. Zurrer pointed out his purchasing of a kidney was legal at the time, and so he should be free of prosecution, but what about the 500+ individuals who received the organs that Amit Kumar harvested?
Personally I think we already have laws in place to deal with this. It is simply being in possession of stolen property. If I can claim anything as mine, it is my body and so there are people in possession of stolen body parts. Now if I had an organ illegally harvested what legal recourse should I have? Should I be able to demand it’s return?
Mr. Zurrer’s post is disingenuous. He did not buy a kidney to save his eight-year old daughter from death or disability. He bought it for himself.
As to Mohammend Yar, the fact that Mr Yar was in, essentially coercive circumstances makes Mr. Zurrer’s crime more heinous.
You had him over a barrel, Mr. Zurrer. Maybe you should have gone for more organs while you had the chance?
Mark brings up a good point. Mr. Yar was over a barrel. How does the situation change if the very people who kidnapped Mr. Yar’s family were the same people who profitted from the transaction?
We are going to have Mr. Zurrer on the radio tomorrow, Thursday Feb. 28th at 12:35pm EST. He will participate in a phone-in, so if you have anything to say about this debate, we’d love to hear your comments. 514-790-0006 or 1-877-760-0006.