Alexander Simidchiev, an MP from Democratic Bulgaria, told parliament in a statement from the floor that Bulgaria had 16 organ donors and 34 transplants last year.
One donor's organs can save up to eight lives, but in Bulgaria only two organs are used from each donor. So the 16 donors gave a second chance to 16 families, when the potential was up to 128 lives saved.
MPs heard a recording of the heartbeat of athlete Georgi (Zhoro) Peev, a medallist at the European Transplant Games. Simidchiev played it with Peev's consent. He knows several people like Peev and says they share an awareness of the one chance they were given again, and in Peev's case a third time.
Behind the National Palace of Culture (NDK) there is a donors' garden, where a rose is planted every year for each donor transplant. Last year there were 14 roses, while 900 people are waiting for a transplant. "Imagine what the garden would look like if it had 900 roses," Simidchiev said. He said that is the potential for help from policy in just one area, and the figure is fully within reach if indifference falls by 30%.
Simidchiev said a consent register could be set up "in just a week" if a decision is made, and it would make it possible to measure how well the yearly campaigns work.
He called on everyone to do something small but meaningful: text their loved ones their wishes, so they can follow them if needed. He told fellow MPs: "Together in this chamber we have much more power, and so much more responsibility." He said MPs can help share many more lives.
European Day of Donation and Transplantation is tomorrow, Saturday 10 October. It has been marked since 1996, usually on the second Saturday of October, and this year's theme is "Sharing lives".