My Donor

Isabella Izidoro

As I walked in to meet my donor, all I could think about was the sacrifice they made.

I say “my” not because I am entitled to their body but because I felt responsible to care for and do their gift justice.

And there was sacrifice. Immense sacrifice. Just because their soul was no longer there, and the desire of one day toteach medical students was very much met – they chose to not be buried but to be handled by first-year medical students.

Medical students who will now know them more intimately than their loved ones. Strangers who will now know them more intimately than they ever knew themselves.

 As we opened the bag and removed the cloth coverings, all I could think was “There’s no hair,

the staff cut their hair”, how horrible to remove something so human. I reminded myself that my donor agreed to this, how else could we learn about their head, skull, and brain one day if hair

was in the way?

I moved on to analyze my donor, they had sun spots on areas that were easily exposed to the sun. They may have spenttime by bodies of water, running in shorts, or taking walks in the park with their family.

I took a look at their ears. Two piercings per ear. My donor was quite progressive and chic. I imagined them going outwhen they were young with friends to bars, clubs, or parties with two beautiful earrings per ear.

 I looked down at their hands. Long and well-kept fingernails. I imagined the time they may have spent in the salon painting and perfectly shaping their nails. I imagined them on their wedding day, hand outstretched waiting to receive their wedding band.

 After taking in all that makes my donor – and all of us – human, I looked down at their body again and noticed the scars,the wrinkles, the life lived. My donor was not just a donor, they were not just a textbook I had the privilege to learn from, they were a person.

 This connection I made within the first five minutes of meeting my donor makes anatomy lab hard. How can I go and cutinto my donor? This offers no benefit to them. But then I remember, time and time again, that this was their desire and choice and I must do it justice.

 Thank you to all donors, but especially my donor, who has taught me so much more than the anatomy of bones, muscles, organs, and tissues.

Isabella Mendes Izidoro is a Brazilian-American who is currently a second year medical student at UMass Chan Medical School. She is excited to one day serve her community as a physician and hopes to inspire other immigrants to pursue medicine.