To donate your organs, or not to donate: that is the question. For young people, choosing whether to become an organ donor is one of the first major decisions they have to make in their youth. However, just clicking “Yes” or “No” at the Motor Vehicle Commission after passing their driver’s test is likely as much thought as the average person has put into the understandably uncomfortable and complex topic of organ donation.

Most people see organ donation as a conversation for when you are “real old,” as Mrs. Barkocy, Assistant Principal at Morris Hills, puts it. But in just New Jersey alone, there are nearly 4,000 people awaiting an organ transplant, and 7 people in Rockaway, 6 people in Wharton, and 4 people in Denville are on the state list for a live-saving transplant, per the website savenjlives.com. (To find out how many people in your community are awaiting a transplant, check out the savenjlives.com’s resources and enter your own town.)

The average wait time for an organ transplant in New Jersey is 5-7 years, meaning that some people die waiting for a donation. In fact, with the national average wait for an organ being 3-5 years, 17 people in the United States die each day awaiting a transplant. And although the concept of donating organs—which, per the non-profit New Jersey Sharing Network, is an action that saves the lives of up to 8 people and enhances the lives of up to 75 people through donated tissue—is supported by 95% of Americans, only 58% of Americans register, and only less than 1% are eligible to donate. This leads to a widespread, nationwide shortage, where the supply of organs is limited by the fact that a person has to pass away in a hospital and on a ventilator so a doctor can certify “how long your organs have been without oxygen,” per Mrs. Barkocy.

For many, the need for an organ transplant comes out of left field. In July of last year, as someone who “had not missed a workout in 838 days,” Mrs. Barkocy was surprised to find out that her abdominal pain and stomach virus-like symptoms, which she was told was due to an appendix burst, were actually because of acute liver failure and kidney failure that occurred for unknown reasons. With the liver being an essential organ to the daily functionality of the body, including removing toxins from one’s blood supply, maintaining blood sugar levels, and aiding in digestion, it is crucial for human survival—which is why acute liver failure, a condition that impacts less than 2,000 people a year, has a mortality rate of 85%. Doctors at Morristown Medical Center told Mrs. Barkocy that she had 24 to 36 hours to live, and that she needed to be medically evacuated via helicopter to NYU Langone Health, a hospital in Manhattan. After a 14 minute medevac that passed by the Statue of Liberty, Mrs. Barkocy was told at Langone that she needed an immediate liver transplant, but that the doctors told her that just because she needed one “‘doesn’t mean you’ll get one.'”

It was only after her arms turned purple, her body yellow, mass internal bleeding, and the witnessing of a microtremor in her ring finger that Mrs. Barkocy was placed as number one listed recipient in the Northeast, allowing her to get a transplant just in time. An 11 hour liver transplant surgery, followed by another major surgery the subsequent day to remove her gallbladder and her right kidney, saved her life, although the recovery process was taxing and challenging. In an interview, Mrs. Barkocy described how exhausted she was after walking 100 feet with her walker 2 weeks after her surgery and she felt like she was “running a 10k” race.

In the weeks following her surgery, Mrs. Barkocy’s doctors told her that she should not return to school until November, but she was adamant about returning Sept. 1 with the rest of the faculty and students. She recounted that life after her transplant was “super hard,” but she looked for the “small victories” in life and stayed optimistic.

Now, Mrs. Barkocy is a certified volunteer with the NJ Sharing Network, and hopes students at Morris Hills “educate [themselves] the best way [they] can” on organ donation and make an informed decision about whether to become an organ donor. According to Mrs. Barkocy, even just lending a helping hand to someone who needs an organ transplant by offering to go to the grocery store with them makes a big difference.

Seeking to make an impact within the Morris Hills community, Mrs. Barkocy now shares her story with Ms. Ottavinia and Mrs. Schwartz’s Driver’s Education classes. Per New Jersey’s “Hero Act,” organ donation is one topic that schools must inform their students upon, so Mrs. Schwartz pulls information from a variety of different sources. The NJ Motor Vehicle manual has a section about signing up to be an organ donor, and representatives from the NJ Sharing Network usually visit the 10th grade classroom. Mrs. Schwartz, embracing what she describes as a supportive Morris Hills family for anyone undergoing struggles in their personal lives, describes Mrs. Barkocy as “so strong” and a person with an exemplary “positive attitude” that “brings hope to others.” Once students got to hear Mrs. Barkocy’s organ donation story, they were able to express how they felt through hand-made cards that decorated Mrs. Barkocy’s entire office one day in November—an initiative that reflected the Thanksgiving spirit of embracing all the things one is grateful for.

Organ donation is more than just the individual choice of one person—it is the shared responsibility of a community to support that individual, and allow them to live the best life possible. That is why when one is deciding whether or not to donate, it is crucial to consider others, as well as yourself.

If you would like to contribute to organ donor efforts, the NJ Sharing Network (njsharingnetwork.org) has places where you can donate or register to become an organ donor. They organize a 5k Celebration of Life event in New Providence, NJ yearly (next year’s event is on June 9, 2024) that, in 2023, raised over $1.6 million.