DEAR ABBY: Eleven years ago, my 7-year-old son, Nicholas, was shot in a botched robbery in Italy. His organs were donated to seven Italian citizens. Since that time, donation rates in Italy have tripled and thousands of people -- many of them children -- are alive who would have died.
Through its annual Holiday Resolution Campaign, the National Kidney Foundation is urging Americans to consider the ultimate holiday gift idea -- organ donation, the gift of life. By simply signing a donor card or enrolling in a state donor registry, we can do for the United States what Nicholas' story did for Italy.
Abby, I hope you will join me in urging your readers to sign donor cards, and give those in need of the gift of life a new beginning. -- REG GREEN, LA CANADA, CALIF.
DEAR REG: I'm pleased to do so. I remember reading newspaper accounts of the courageous way you dealt with your son's tragic death, and the difference it made in the attitude toward organ donation in Italy. That you took the pain of losing your son and turned it into something positive is inspiring.
Please, readers, take a moment and consider the importance of organ donation. Discuss it with your families because it is they who will have the final say. For more information or to receive a free donor card, contact the National Kidney Foundation by calling toll-free (800) 622-9010, or visit � HYPERLINK "http://www.kidney.org" ��www.kidney.org� and click on "Transplantation."