It is easy to get down on young people now days. To say we are all desensitized robots that only love ourselves, and the tiny buttons on our cell phones and computer keyboards. A lot of the media coverage we get is negative, and that only shows the flaws in our generation. It shows us killing, stealing, lying, cheating and doing drugs.

When I’m doing research for an episode of Youth Outlook radio I very rarely find a story that touches my heart in a positive way, but the story of an 18 year old woman preparing to donate a peace of her kidney to her daughter that is sick with a life threatening condition hit home and gave me some hope.

Originally an ethics committee said she could not donate her liver because she was too young. (The legal age for a live donor is 21.) After what I imagine was an emotional rollercoaster that would make any one want to toss there cookies and cry at the same time, the ministry of health said she would be allowed to save the life of her young daughter.

This story exhibits all thing that make me hopeful for our future, in a country where politicians lie like politicians; the youth have more STDs than Captain Kirk and James Bond combined; where soldiers throw helpless Snoopies on to jagged orange rocks. The far reach of Youtube can almost match the boundless efficiency and power of one young woman’s love for her child, which is proof that as a generation we are far from doomed.
—Donny Lumpkins