Can Two Years Make A Difference in Life and Death?

So this post is a little off topic, but I saw a story on Fox News that really bothered me and I felt that I needed to share.

A 10 year old girl with cystic fibrosis is in desperate need of a lung transplant, but organ donor rules state that you must be 12 years old to be placed on the adult lung list. Because she is two years younger than the required age, she can only receive lungs after ALL of the adult candidates. Even adults with less serious conditions. You can read the full story here.

I personally think that this is a ridiculous rule. The life of a child is precious, and her life should not be determined by a matter of two years. I am not trying to say that the lives  adults who are on the donor list are not important, it is just so sad to think that this girl might not get the lungs she needs to live because she is only ten, not twelve. The teacher in me can't help but imagine what if something like this were to happen to one of my future students and it is because of this that I couldn't help but share this story.

So I did a little more digging into this story and found that the parents of the girl have started an online petition to have the rule changed. The petition can be viewed at Change.org