Putrefaction is what happens to a person’s body after death. Technically speaking, putrefaction is the destruction of the soft tissues of the body with the aid of microorganisms, according to an article by forensic anthropologist Arpad Vass.

Putrefaction is the natural world’s way of recycling a body. The Bible says, “For dust you are, and to dust you will return.”

There is an alternative – organ donation. April is Donate Life Month, and Mesa State students have probably seen a few volunteers with Donate Life at various tables around campus. Donate Life is a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation.

The volunteers around campus have been taking count to see how Mesa State students weigh in when it comes to organ donation. The final tally will be compared to schools like Colorado State University and University of Colorado.

When it comes down to numbers, it’s not how many more donors we have on this campus or that campus that really matters. It’s the amount of patients still waiting to be given a gift that could save their life. There are 110,541 patients waiting for organs as of March 2011, according to Donatelife.net.

To put that in perspective, think about Stocker Stadium, which seats about 8,000 people. Fill Stocker up about 14 times and that shows how many people are waiting for organs.

This week we wrote about the Circle of Light Photo Project where people who had been blind and had cornea transplants took pictures of items they could see now. The fact that sight was restored to so many lives is incredible. But it wouldn’t have been possible without the conscious choice of someone to be an eye donor.

Many people choose not to donate simply because they don’t know the facts. The facts, according to Donatelife.net, are that anyone can be a donor regardless of age, race or medical history.

Some people choose not to donate because they want to have an open casket memorial. Donatelife.net says, “Through the entire donation process the body is treated with care, respect and dignity.”

Many people are afraid that if they go to the hospital and are donors, that their health will not be the first priority. The fact is that a patients health is the first thing that doctors are concerned with. No organs are taken until death has been confirmed.

The fact is that death is grim. It is a grim subject and often it is incredibly sad. However, if deaths can be prevented through the process of organ donation and then transplantation, there is hope.

Rather then let your body go through the slow process of decomposition, learn the facts about donating. Go talk to the volunteers of Donate Life around campus, and the next time you are at the DMV think about adding the little red heart to your driver’s license.

cmartine@mesastate.edu