Going Black to save lives

Kotey (centre) and Belledent (right) watching as the liver and kidneys are removed from an organ donor in Jackson, Tennessee. — AP

IT’S long after midnight when the bustling operating room suddenly falls quiet – a moment of silence to honour the man lying on the table.

This is no ordinary surgery. Detrick Witherspoon died before ever being wheeled in, and now two wide-eyed medical students are about to get a hands-on introduction to organ donation.