dimanche.ch - 15/12/2002
Free Translation from French of article published in dimanche.ch of 15th December, 2002
ORGAN DONATION Act quickly to save lives
The revenge of the soul

PASCALE BAER-LILLA

RESIDENCE Montreux
BACKGROUND Former marketing director in a private university, PR in communication, Pascale Baer-Lilla is henceforth full time busy with the Foundation she created - "Pass The Baton" – in which she manages the office. The objective of the foundation is to keep up-to-date a registry of potential organ donors in our country, and to propose a discussion forum on the site of the foundation for exchanging views and experiences..
BATTLE-HORSE In order to make it clear and transparent once for all in respecting the individual choice of everybody. And, in respecting this choice, to enable families to live in happiness.
BEDSIDE BOOK I Call You Tenderness, by Jacques Salomé, with illustrations by Karine Bosserdet and Dominique de Mestra.
MINUTE OF HAPPINESS "My son in my arms; the wheedling "sessions" he offers me."
Donor’s mother, Pascale Baer-Lilla militates for the question to become a fundamental problem, so that others do not have to respond at our place.

Céline Fossati
There are questions about which one never worries and of which one does not think. And, when the time comes for a response, it is often under circumstances of an extreme violence. In an emergency state. Like this mother who, in a January morning, lost her elder son. It was cold. He slipped on an ice patch. What was he doing outside so early on that day ? She is still wondering. What she knows however, is that his death, 24 hours after the accident, permitted to save lives. “Only his head got hurt “, Pascale Baer-Lilla calmly relates. “He fought. We were hoping. He passed away. The verdict came : cerebral death, ideal for organ donation.” If that woman can now talk quietly of the death of her child, who deceased a little less than one year ago, the reason is both she and him had answered this fundamental question since long : am I a potential organ donor ? ”For my children, I’ve always wanted the best. Also at medical level. I realized very early this was including organ transplant.” She goes on: “If a person wants to be a receiver, she/he must also be capable of donating. My children have been educated in this conviction.” Seven organs were taken from Denis, this young adult of 18. Seven receivers benefited therefrom. Among them Jem, who received his heart. “I miss my son, Pascale Baer-Lilla says. Today I suffer from an incurable sickness, which is absence.” Organ donation does not attenuate her pain, but it proves her son’s choice was respected. For this sad at heart mother, the body is a dress. “When I’m going to wash myself, I undress, I go under the shower and I get clean. Passing away is to leave one’s body in the same way, and go beyond.” She continues : “Donating an organ is not more complicated than lending a jacket to someone who feels cold. It’s a natural gesture. It’s thanking the earth for having existed. “ And, pass the baton. “Organ donation is not difficult if it has been thought over with mature consideration. Death, in itself, is painful.”

Question of life
Who cares about organ donation before being confronted with it for herself/himself or for near relations? Who wonders whether she/he will tell the doctor: “You can take the heart of my wife/husband”, whilst her/his death in itself inconceivable? Perhaps this question will arise one day and it will be necessary to respond quickly, sometimes very quickly. “One couple had ten minutes to decide on organ donation of their child, Pascale Baer-Lilla witnesses. Taking such a heavy decision in such a short time is heroic.” Another mother is still wondering why the will of her 17 years old daughter –deceased following a motorbike accident- had not been respected and none of her organs had been taken after her death. “A lady suffering from disseminated sclerosis thanked me for having advised her to ask her doctor whether she could be a donor despite her sickness. Knowing two or three of her organs could serve is quite a revenge over sickness.”
Little bits of oneself, like the umbilical cord which is cut upon birth can be a source of hope for some patients. The blood contained in this link between the mother and her baby can be used to realize marrow grafting onto children affected by blood diseases. Yet, one has to know it. Likewise, one should be conscious of the fact there are ten times more chances in someone’s life to require an organ transplant than to be in a position to donate. In the year 2001, Switzerland, 95 donors contributed and 424 organs were transplanted, whilst the waiting list amounted to 1030 patients (data from Swisstransplant).
Since 25 years, in Canada, a simple cross on someone’s driving license indicates whether she/he is a donor, partially a donor –certain people do not want their eyes to be touched, reflection of the soul- or against donation of her/his organs. In France, the Government goes by the principle everybody is a donor, except if contrary advice is given by the person concerned. In Belgium, a list records the potential donors who must confirm their choice through a biological testament. In Switzerland, nobody knows who is a donor and who is not. The question is raised, only when facing a death, with the close family. The small cards carried by certain persons have no legal value and the near family can go beyond the will of the defunct. Pascale Baer-Lilla is fighting for the choice of everybody to be respected; the choice of donors and that of non-donors. She is fighting for a registry to be kept up-to-date –this is the reason why she just created the Foundation Pass The Baton having its registered office in Chailly-Montreux- and for medicine to be capable of acting quickly and save more lives thanks to transplantation.