A sense of absence: The staging of heroic deaths and ongoing lives among american organ donor families

Abstract

This chapter deals with particular human encounters of absence and loss as they are expressed by the families of American organ donors. After tragically losing a family member and saying yes to donation of the organs, many of the families of organ donors formulate perceptions of life, death, and organ donation that seem to insist on the continuing existence of the dead donor in different ways. These ideas are mainly structured and encouraged by the American organ organizations, supporting donor families in the time after the organ donation and wishing to transform the traumatic experience of losing a family member into positive sense-making stories about organ donation. © 2010 Springer-Verlag New York.