A Surgeon Reflects On Death, Life And The 'Incredible Gift' Of Organ Transplant

"When Joshua Mezrich was a medical student on the first day of surgical rotation, he was called into the operating room to witness a kidney transplant."

"What he saw that day changed him."

"After the donor kidney came out of ice and the clamps on it were released, he says, 'it turned pink and literally, in front of my eyes, this urine just started squirting out onto the field.'"

"Mezrich was blown away: 'I just had this sense like, 'This is so amazing, what we're doing, and what an incredible gift. And could I ever do this? Could I ever be part of this exchange, this beautiful thing?' "

He went on to become a transplant surgeon and has since performed hundreds of kidney, liver and pancreas transplants. He also has assisted in operations involving other organs.

Each organ responds to transplant in a different way.