Natalie Cole has had health problems for a long time, all stemming from her past drug abuse.
On Larry King recently, she said she was in acute kidney failure and is on dialysis three days per week while she waits for a new kidney via transplant.
Offers of kidneys are flooding in, from strangers, willing to undergo the testing and often serious surgery to have a kidney removed for harvesting. I admire these folks, I really do. But I'm left to wonder if they'd do the same for Joe or Josephine Six Pack down the street?
80,000 people are currently waiting for an organ. Almost 20 of them will die everyday, due to not receiving an organ and one in ten of the people waiting are children.
Ms. Cole has said she understands she is one in a very long line awaiting a kidney but is very grateful for the offers. She may consider them.
Why am I torn here? I like her, she's a great singer and comes from a great musical dynasty. I want her to get a kidney - tomorrow! No - this afternoon! Now!
What I don't want is for her to bypass those who have been waiting for months or even years - especially those little kids, simply because she's ...well....Natalie Cole.
There is something else that apparently is bothersome to people out there - based on chat forums and comment sections of news stories, that causes me to ask some troublesome questions. Ms. Cole needs a kidney because of years of drug abuse. And something about that makes people feel she should step back down that line and let someone else in first. Maybe they are wrong to feel this way - they probably are. But are they the only ones to think this? I wonder...
Did she deserve the illnesses that caused her kidneys to fail? No, certainly not. No-one deserves that, no matter what behaviors brought on the kidney failures. But similarly, she does not deserves to jump the line, due to her money and fame.
The rich jump the queue in life all the time, we know that. They don't wait in line at restaurants and based on commentaries about her case - some say they don't wait in line for organs, either.
Could this be true?
While organ donations are done on a points system based on time waited, seriousness of the disease, compatibility and other criteria, some believe that the rich or famous receive more than their share of the pie.
Nobody wants to believe this. I certainly don't. The institutions that deal with donations say it is most definitely not the case. But many believe that the rich and famous receive less prison time, have lower standards of acceptable behaviors expected of them - and generally tend to skate more freely than the rest of us.
Could this possibly be true, in the case of organ donation?
Apparently, there are folks out there who think it's a possibility.
What's your take?
I hope Natalie Cole receives her donation - fast. I hope all of the people on the lists do. To become a donor, click here : http://www.organdonor.gov/donor/registry.shtm