HOW FAR IS TOO FAR?

How far is too far? Where do we draw the line?

On today’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, there was an interesting twist, one that had me wondering just how serious the oath to “do no harm” is when it comes to saving a little boy’s life.

So, here’s the full gist.

There’s a psychopathic serial killer who murdered five women and was completely unapologetic about it. He’s also on death row and scheduled to die in the next five days. On top of all that, he has a serious surgical injury to his spine.

Now, there’s also a little boy, around four years old, who needs an organ transplant. He’ll die within hours if the transplant isn’t done. Although he’s at the top of the transplant list, there’s no matching donor.

And guess who is a match?

The death row serial killer who murdered five women.

Interestingly, the man is ready to die. He doesn’t want the surgery to fix his spine or the injury to his head. He wants to donate his organ to the little boy because, after all, he’s going to die in a few days anyway.

But the surgeons can’t do it.

As surgeons, they cannot intentionally kill one patient and take his organs to save another. The “do no harm” rule still applies, regardless of who the patient is or what he has done.

But then the little boy’s condition gets worse, really bad, he has about six hours left. And then the serial killer hits his head on his bed frame and goes into a critical state.

Now the doctors have two options:

Fix his head injury and save his life.

Or let him bleed to death, allow him to become brain dead, and give his organs to the little boy who desperately needs them.

I mean, let’s be honest. This man doesn’t exactly inspire sympathy, five women are dead because of him, he’s already been sentenced to death. And in this particular situation, letting him die could save an innocent child who has barely even started living.

It almost feels like the lesser evil, but they are surgeons, they took an oath to do no harm.

So whether he deserves to live or not, whether his death could save someone else or not, they fix his head and save his life.

Five days later, he is executed.

And the little boy?

He eventually gets his organ transplant. At the very last minute, the match comes through and he survives.

He didn’t die.

Dearest reader, as the surgeon, what would you do? Would you kill one man to save another? How far would you go to save that little boy you believe deserves a shot at this life thing? And at what point does saving a life become crossing a line you swore never to cross?

Sometimes, we are pushed against the wall and forced to question the moral standards, values and oaths we thought were absolute. It’s easy to know what we believe until life gives us a situation where every option feels wrong.

Maybe the hardest part about morality is not knowing what is right in a perfect situation, but deciding what you will still refuse to do when the stakes are impossibly high.

So how far is too far?

@favvy_Okwans🖤.