Around 8,260 patients in Germany are currently on the waiting list for a donor organ. They are hoping for a new kidney, a new heart, a new life.

When a suitable organ is found, it usually comes from abroad. Germany itself ranks at the bottom of the list when it comes to the number of organ donors in Europe. Despite most of the population being open to organ donation, many relatives of deceased individuals often refuse to allow their loved ones' organs removed against their wishes. The result of this shortage is that every eight hours, someone in Germany dies due to not receiving a life-saving donor organ.

This project takes an in-depth and personal look at the people behind the numbers. The realities of their lives are diverse, from full-time work to one and a half years in hospital. How they experience the wait has been documented by themselves. It is deliberately a narrative of waiting and not one that goes beyond that. It is intended to make the people‘s situation more comprehensible, their fear of the future, the anxious uncertainty and moments of hope. At the same time, the choice of narrative is based on the idea of breaking up the media narrative of the ‘success story of a transplanted person’.

Not all of the project participants are still alive. What remains is the nagging question:

Why are we, unlike our neighbouring countries, unable to find a way to make the lives of those waiting worth living? There is an urgent need for new political discourse. In the end, each of us is called upon to question our own attitude towards the willingness to donate.