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Have you experienced an epiphany in your life? When at that very moment your life was altered. For me, my life was altered five years ago. I was at the hospital with my mother in the Kidney Dialysis center. I saw a great number of patients waiting for a kidney transplant. I knew at that moment I wanted to be a kidney organ donor.

When I renewed my Ontario health card and was asked if I wish to be an organ donor, I did not hesitate to say yes. Like many diabetics, my mother's kidneys became damaged gradually and she was faced with kidney failure. Twenty to thirty per cent of diabetics will develop kidney disease.

I thought of the people that I would be giving a second chance at life by donating my kidneys. Did you know that on an average 12 Canadians a day are diagnosed with kidney failure, according to The Kidney Foundation of Canada. Currently, more than 3000 Canadians are listed on kidney transplant waiting lists. Last year 250 Canadians died while waiting for a kidney transplant.

There are not enough organs being donated to meet this ever growing need. I encourage all Canadians to donate their organs. Discuss this with your family and make your wishes known.

Tell your family that you wish to be an organ donor. Encourage them to donate their organs by explaining to them that many Canadians die each year from the lack of donated organs. According to the Canadian Organ Replacement Registry as of December 2004, 4,004 Canadians were waiting for an Organ transplant. 72 % of them were waiting for a kidney. In 2003, 1,044 kidney transplants took place in Canada.

Every person on that list, who is waiting for that second chance at life, is someone's mother, father, grandparent, child, relative or close friend. Would you hesitate to donate your organs if your family member or friend's name was on that list?

Please stop and give it some thought. When you donate your organs you are giving someone a second chance at life. I have put a great deal importance upon my decision to donate my organs and I hope that you will too. Your spirit will live on in the life of another. There is no age limitation on who can donate. By visiting www.giftoflife.on.ca, I found out that the oldest Canadian organ donor was over 90 years of age.

The following organizations allow you to fill out a donor card online.

' www.organdonor.gov - The U.S. government
' www.unos.org - The United Network for Organ Sharing
' www.shareyourlife.org - Donate Life
' www.lifequestfla.org - LifeQuest Florida
' https://www.transplant.bc.ca - BC Transplant Society
'GiveLife.ca presents a wealth of information about organ and tissue donation.
'Transplant.ca offers you a list of organ and tissue transplantation facts and statistics

Help make someone's hopes come true. Today someone was given the second chance at life because another signed their organ donation card. Have you signed yours?

Please give the gift of life.