A London physician is being honoured for his commitment to raising awareness about organ donation.
Dr. Michael Sharpe of the London Health Sciences Centre was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Trillium Gift of Life Network. The award is presented to someone who advocates for organ and tissue donation both inside and outside the hospital, mentors staff on the importance of organ donation, and is dedicated to the donation process.
Dr. Sharpe is the first recipient from the London Health Sciences Centre. He says becoming an advocate was partly due to his training in critical care.
"As an intensivist working in a hospital that supports multi-organ transplantation, you immediately see the benefits of the results of organ and tissue donation," Dr. Sharpe says. "In other words, you see the lives that have been saved as a result of donation."
Dr. Sharpe says more people are willing to sign up to be organ donors today than when he began practicing.
"Early on when we approached families, with respect to potential donation of their loved one, it was a concept they never heard of," Dr. Sharpe says. "Today the tables turned a little bit. It is not unusual for a family to bring this up before we even consider it. The concept of organ and tissue donation has improved."
However, he says there is still room for improvement.
"I think we still have much to do about that in terms of public awareness," says Dr. Sharpe. "Only 27% of individuals in Ontario have registered as a donor. That should be much higher. I think what's important here is people need to have the opportunity to talk to experts with respect to organ and tissue donation."
Dr. Sharpe was quite pleased when he recieved the award but wants to stress this is a shared award between everyone involved.
"You have to recognize that this award is really a testiment to the program that we have here at London Health Sciences Centre," Dr. Sharpe says. "Organ and tissue donation and subsequent transplantation is a very complex process. So it's a testament to the process here and the health care team and all the individuals that contribute somewhat to the process. It's a commitment by everyone, so I think we need to establish the fact that this award is really a shared award with everyone involved in this process."
**This story was written by Kayley Leon, a student in the Media, Theory, and Production program at Western University. Kayley is currently performing an internship with BlackburnNews.com**
