Made in Leith – Dock

Give a Liver for Steve Jobs?

Organ Donation is a campaign close to our hearts here at Leith and Tangible.  (Tangible’s Grand Prix winning paper from the 2011 Scottish Marketing Society Effectiveness Awards is well worth a squizz).

So, amid all the current outpouring of respect for Steve Jobs, we couldn’t help thinking that it would be nice if everyone with a Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad or other Apple gadget might consider signing up as an organ donor in their country.

(Given Apple have sold over 250 million iOS devices, that would be a pretty awesome legacy, wouldn’t it?)

Steve Jobs had a complicated relationship with organ donation.  He received a liver transplant from a person in their 20s who died in a car accident.  But he was fully aware that his wealth played a huge part in securing the transplant (he could afford to register in other U.S. states as well as his own).  Following his successful transplant, he spoke openly about this, and how he wanted to improve access to donor organs for everyone, regardless of how rich or poor they were.  He was instrumental in creating a register of living kidney donors and changing the driving license arrangements in California so people were asked if they wanted to sign up to the organ donor register.

On the busy day of Apple’s earnings call in 2010, Steve Jobs took time out to write an email reply to a young man who wrote to thank him for his efforts to promote organ donation, followong the dealth of his girlfriend.  Steve Jobs ended his email with the words “Life is fragile”.

So, why not get on your Mac, your iPad or your iPhone now and Google how to register as an organ donor in your country?

If you’re in the UK, you can do it here.

And if you’d like to hear Steve Jobs talking about organ donation in his own words – here you go.

Have your say

comments