Randomness

   I've been avoiding this for over a week now.
   As I've mentioned before, my posts in "Neanderings" arise mostly whenever a train of thought envelopes me with its persistence on an ongoing basis. Some of these trains of thought are more persistent than others and that's when you end up with me here, fumbling away with words and their meaning. I guess today is one of those days.
   A little over a week ago, a driver lost control of her vehicle outside the entrance of a Costco here in London. Somehow or other, the vehicle managed to find its way through the barriers guarding the entrance of Costco and then plowed into a pregnant mother and her two children.
   The woman's six-year-old daughter, after being held on life support long enough to donate organs, died. The woman, who was eight months pregnant, underwent an emergency C-section in an attempt to save both her and her unborn baby's life. Sadly, the newborn infant also passed away a few days after the accident. The mother and her other daughter are recovering. After some internal debate, I have decided not to post the girl's name or picture. Frankly, I become extremely sad looking at her pictures and I'm sure they would have the same effect on a reader. Instead, look at any other young child you know and you will see the same qualities.

   I would be hard-pressed to describe any other single incident in the city's history which has involved more of an outpouring of grief involving one of its own than this one.
   The young girl has been described as an "angel". Shown a picture of her in life and I am sure you would agree. In a few short days, the people of London donated $30,000, towards her funeral expenses. Costco is matching, dollar for dollar, any contributions made at their stores, up to $50,000. Thousands attended a candlelight vigil. Much sorrow (and a little anger) has been expressed all over social media and in print.
   I think one of the things which struck us the most was the random nature of this horrific event.
   When you hop into a car and drive away there is this implicit danger. When you are playing sports there is a real possibility that you may get hurt. Swimming in a rough lake, walking deep into the forest. There are a whole host of things we do and activities we engage in which carry along with them at least some small portion of acknowledged risk.
   Standing inside a Costco, on the other side of barriers which are there for the express purpose of protecting you and the building should not be one of those "acknowledged risk" situations.
   Instead, it seemed almost as if there was malignant purpose behind this event, that somehow a vehicle was guided through those barriers (otherwise, how could it have happened) and directed straight at this young family. This didn't seem like the accidental type of occurrence we all assume the risk of as we go about our daily lives.
   It was, of course, random.
   Rather than an orchestrated event, it was simply the intersection of a whole series of seemingly unrelated actions, thoughts, and circumstances, all of which had to happen before this tragedy could occur. If any one of a million small things had possibly been different leading up to these deaths, then they might not have happened at all.

   The randomness of this is what contributes to the sorrow and anger. We're all pissed off because there is no rhyme or reason to any of it and without rhyme or reason contributing to how we lead our lives, what's there to do?
   If you really stop to think about it (but don't, because if you do, you will be frozen) there are an almost infinitesimal number of things which need to either happen or not happen simply for us to survive. As one small example, think of the thousands of cars we pass going the other way on a daily basis. Our lives and/or well-being depend totally on that other driver's health, state of mind and the condition of his car. Any of those things could be in a state of disrepair which might cause his car to swerve into yours. And yet we pass these cars constantly, with no thought towards the random possibilities they all present.
   I have an aunt who was doing nothing more than walking along a sidewalk when a driver who was pulling out of a parking lot hit and killed her. His defence was that the sun was in his eyes. Hard to know whether this was true or not but, at the same time, if my aunt had been a few steps faster or a few steps slower or if perhaps the sun had been at a different point in the sky then this tragedy would have been averted. Such small, almost mathematical things, having such an impact on us.
   The grief here in London is palpable but at the same time there are people dying horrifically all over the world. Planes and rockets are falling out of the sky and we are presented with images of other dead children from around the world, any of whom would be as angelic as the ones we just lost. I am sure their deaths seem as infuriatingly random as these ones closer to home.
   As much, though, as we rail at the seeming senselessness of this young girl's death, there is something else to consider. As I mentioned at the beginning, she was able to give the gift of her organs. This one act would have saved the lives of several others. To the loved ones of anyone who was saved when this six-year-old passed, how exquisitely (and yet somehow excruciatingly) random was this gift? 
   

Do you want to save a life?: Part Two

   Almost a full year ago, I wrote a blog post titled "Do you want to save a life?" You can read this post here. In it, I espouse the virtues of both organ and blood donation.
   By way of example, I spoke about two people in my life who were, at that time, dealing with health issues in which blood and organ donation either already were playing vital roles or had the potential for doing so.

Gordon (as I knew him) and Gordon (as I CONTINUE to know him!)

   One of them was a gentleman and high school compatriot named Gordon Kirkland. Gordon lives in B.C. and his liver was failing at this time last year. His only viable hope for survival rested on the very slim chance that someone, somewhere near to him, had made the decision to donate their organs upon their passing. And then they had to die. Complicating this somewhat was the fact that they needed to be fairly close to Gordon's size (he's a big man) and the blood types needed to match (Gordon has one of the rarer blood types).
   Gordon spent most of last year slowly deteriorating. He is a well-known and respected humourist, though, and did his best to demonstrate this at the same time as his body continued to both sustain and betray him.
   Over the latter part of the year, you could sense the resignation in his writings. He talked about how close death was.
   Then he got lucky. Or he received a blessing. Maybe a little of both but the fact of the matter is that he became the recipient of a new liver just a little over two months ago! By both his and his doctors' admission, he was likely only about three days away from death when he received his transplant. He is doing very well now and has returned to that ebullient Gordon we all know and love. At the same time, he is humble in his thankfulness and extremely aware that someone else had to die in order for him to continue on living.
   Putting it simply, you can save a life by registering as an organ donor. This just happened to someone I know. Not only that, the act of registering can either save or greatly positively impact the lives of several people, all at the same time. It's a no-brainer, no pun intended!

   The other person I spoke about in that post was my ex-wife, Lori Hicks. Lori was in the middle of a battle against multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. The treatment for this involves different forms of chemotherapy and blood transfusions. Hence the need for blood donations. Donated blood is also used in the battle against anemia, sickle cell disease and hemophilia. Of course it is also used in cases involving accidents, where there may be great blood loss.

   Lori,
   and my two boys,
   Bryant and Ben

   Sadly, Lori ultimately lost her battle, passing away in early December. No amount of blood donation would have ultimately saved her. Blood donations, however, were a vital part of the treatment process which helped keep her alive for the five years she was still with us after her cancer diagnosis. This was five years of a life lived with dignity and grace and, as importantly, a life surrounded by the love of family and friends. Blood donations were a part of what helped make this possible for her and they continue to help many others. For the length of time it takes--about forty-five minutes every two months--blood donations are also a no-brainer.
   I am once again posting some  links that will get you somewhere where you can learn more about the organ and blood donation process and how to get involved in both.

 http://organ-donation-works.org/english/home/
https://beadonor.ca/
http://www.blood.ca/

  
   Now all you need to do is....DO IT!!!