My name is Dora and I'm a high school student in Bucharest, a city that constantly inspires me and gives me reasons to discover, get involved and grow. Those who know me would say that I am an active, ambitious and empathetic person - always with a smile on my face and ready to bring energy wherever I go.
I devote my time to the things that define me: sport, for balance; volunteering, because I want to contribute to the community; and walking around the city, which helps me reconnect and clear my head.
Still walking around the city and, more recently, with the first few hours of driving, I've started to see the traffic and the risks we face on a daily basis differently. In Romania, in 2023, there were over 4,500 serious accidents, with hundreds of lives lost and even more scarred for life. It made me realise how fragile moments are and how quickly everything can change because of a moment of carelessness. This is how I began to see transplantation not just as a medical procedure, but as a real chance of life for those on the brink. The American poet Maya Angelou said that ‘Life is not measured in the number of breaths, but in the moments that take your breath away’, and this made me realise how precious moments are and how, through seemingly small gestures, we can become part of someone else's life story.
Together with Irina, Eva and David, I am seriously thinking about how we can help to promote this issue, to inform others and to increase our responsibility as drivers, pedestrians or just people who can save lives.
Because, after all, life is about choices, and I choose to get involved.
