An Act of Giving Truly Changes—and Saves—Lives

by T.J. Maciak

Joyce 译

An Act of Giving Truly Changes—and Saves—Lives

拯救生命的给予

by T.J. Maciak

Joyce 译

Track 4

大多数的人总是倾向于临渴挖井而非居安思危，总觉得那些不幸之事不会降临到自己身上，但是大家有没有想过，也许有一天躺在病床上苦苦等待别人救助的会变成我们自己或者我们亲友？

I am one of the fortunate ones and now it’s my turn to help others.

我是那些幸运儿之一，现在轮到我去帮助别人了。

I just recently returned from an amazing trip to Durban, South Africa where I participated in the 19th World Transplant Games. I have been competing in the Transplant Games since 1996. I am not the most skilled athlete by any stretch of the imagination but the fact that I am able to compete is what matters. You see, the summer after 4th grade I failed a sports physical. I had protein in my urine. I had a1)biopsydone at the Detroit Children’s Hospital and was diagnosed with kidney disease.

Life was pretty tough as a youngster; every week it seemed like I was visiting a doctor and it wasn’t my idea of fun. As time went on and my condition was stable, the weekly visits turned into monthly visits, then into yearly checkups. Then came the day that would forever change who I am…

It was the end of September of my senior year of high school and I almost died. My kidneys suddenly, without warning, went into end stage2)renal failureand I was in a coma for four days. My new life consisted of many hospital visits because I was now in need of3)dialysistreatments to stay alive. Dialysis was extremely hard for me as an 18-year-old. Not only did my body not tolerate the treatments very well but it was tough to see other people, some my newfound friends, doing dialysis at the same time with me and then not show up one day because they succumbed to the harshness of kidney disease.

In the years since being diagnosed with kidney disease I have had two kidney transplants, graduated from college twice (undergraduate and graduate degrees), and have traveled all over the world, thanks to both professional opportunities and being part of the transplant community and competing in the Transplant Games. It’s hard to think back on that time in my life and think I am that person who went through all of those struggles, but I know I am.

我最近进行了一次奇妙的旅行，刚从南非的德班回来，我在那里参加了第19届世界移植运动会。自1996年起，我就一直有参加这个移植运动会。无论怎么看，我都绝对称不上是个运动健将，但是我可以参加比赛这一事实才是最重要的。你看，在四年级结束后的那个夏天，我没有办法参加体育运动。我的尿液里面含有蛋白质。我在底特律儿童医院进行了活组织切片检查，结果诊断出我患有肾病。

那时的生活对于一个青少年来说相当的艰难；似乎我每周都要去看一次医生，而这在我看来一点儿也不好玩。随着时间的推移，我的情况有所稳定，每周一次的看病变为每月一次，然后变成了每年一次的检查。然后我迎来了彻底改变我人生的那天……

那是在我高中最后一年的九月末，我差点就死了。我的肾没有任何预警地进入了肾衰竭末期，我昏迷了整整四天。我的新生活包含了多次的医院造访，因为我当时需要通过透析治疗来活命。透析对当时的我—一个十八岁的小伙子来说相当的困难。不仅我的身体没法很好地忍受这些治疗，而且看到其他人—我一些新交的朋友—和我一起做着透析，然后有一天却不再出现，因为他们输给了残酷的肾病，这对我来说非常痛苦。

被确诊患有肾病之后的这些年里，我接受过两次肾移植手术，从大学毕业了两次（本科和硕士学位），同时多亏了工作机会以及以移植手术康复患者的身份参与移植运动会，我还游遍了全世界。回想起我生命中的那段日子，想起我就是那个经受过这么多困难的那个人，这很痛苦，但我知道，那就是我。

1) biopsy [ˑbaɪɒpsɪ] n. 活组织检查，活组织切片检查

2) renal failure 肾衰竭

3) dialysis [daɪˑælɪsɪs] n. 透析

Now I know that my role in life isn’t to dominate in sports, but to try to educate people on the importance of organ donation. Because of the anonymous gift of life that somebody gave to me, my donor—my hero, I am still here today and having a wonderful life. Not everyone is as fortunate as I am though, so I feel it is my responsibility to try to spread the word, so people understand that there are more than 115,000 people in the United States awaiting the gift of life right today. Sadly not all of these people are fortunate to make it to the day where they can receive a transplant because there are not enough donors.

If you haven’t signed up yet to become an organ donor I suggest you think about how you might be able to help somebody out someday with the most important gift of all. It is also possible that someday you, a close friend or a family member could be one of the unfortunate ones waiting for somebody else to register to be an organ donor so you can see why educating people about the importance of organ donation helps everyone out. If you were touched by my story then please register to become an organ, eye or tissue donor today and help me spread the word!

Organ donation is an act of giving that truly does change—and save—lives.

如今，我知道我的人生角色不是要在体育世界中大放异彩，而是要努力去让人们认识到器官捐赠的重要性。因为某位无名氏赠与了我生命的礼物，因为我的捐赠者—我的英雄，我今天才得以在这里，拥有一段美妙的人生。但是，不是每个人都能像我这么幸运，所以我觉得我有责任去宣传，去让人们了解到，今天，美国有十一万五千多人在等待着“生命的礼物”。令人难过的是，这些人并不都能幸运地等到接受移植手术的那天，因为没有足够的器官捐赠者。

如果你还没有登记成为一位器官捐赠者，我建议你考虑一下，也许某天你能以这份最为珍贵的礼物帮助某人渡过难关。也许某天，你、你的好朋友或者你的亲人会变成那些不幸之人之一，等待着他人登记成为器官捐赠者，所以你能看到，教育人们认识到器官捐赠的重要性为何能帮到每一个人。如果你被我的故事打动了，那么请在今天就去登记成为一位器官、眼睛或者身体组织捐赠者，帮助我宣传器官捐赠！

器官捐赠是一个能真正改变人生、拯救生命的给予之举。

世界移植运动会

世界移植运动会是专门以接受过器官移植手术的康复患者为参赛选手的运动会，隶属于奥林匹克大家庭，因此也被称作移植界的奥运会，其举办目的在于帮助器官移植受者康复和回归社会，提高他们的生命质量，唤起公众的器官捐赠意识。世界移植运动会始于1978年，由英国的一名医生莫里斯所组织，比赛地点在英国的朴茨茅斯。从1994年起每两年举办一届，全世界66个国家、数以万计的各类器官移植受者曾参加了以往运动会。运动会包括从4至80岁所有年龄的参赛者，有大约50项比赛项目，包括田径、游泳、乒乓球、羽毛球、高尔夫、排球和自行车等。