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Life And Death

"Life and Death"

Would you risk your own life and undergo major surgery, if it could save a life? As one patient in need of a liver donor found out -- few would. Even members of his own family were hesitant to go under the knife for him. In this special "Nightline" half-hour, ABC's John Donvan traces one man's struggle to get the liver transplant he needs to survive.

Death Life

That's a very difficult question! If it were my family, then I'm sure that I would risk my own life for them, but I think it's a lot harder request to ask someone to risk their life for a total stranger!
If the risk wasn't so high, and I knew pretty much that I'd survive, I think that I would probably have an operation to help somebody else live.
There are of course loads of other factors to consider here, such as you'd have to take more than a couple of weeks off work to recuperate from major surgery, and you could be without wages for months. Pretty much, you'd also have to rely heavily on your own family for support in household jobs and childcare, especially if you couldn't lift or carry anything-I'm guessing though that if you're the only one willing to go through this for another family member, they'd probably be happy to rally round rather than face the knife themselves!