Surely no one thought of Nevaeh Miller as an organ donor until the last desperate hope for her recovery flickered out. It’s just not the way you look at a 7-month-old’s future.

As the grim reality became clear, though, the little girl’s loved ones found a way last week, despite their grief, to make a generous, humane decision that allowed other families with endangered children to benefit from Nevaeh’s heart, lungs and kidneys.

Surrounded by so much turmoil – including the possibly criminal circumstances of her death – Nevaeh’s family could have been forgiven for shunning the added emotional burden of this decision. They faced it anyway and made a difference that could last for generations.

Millions of us, however, are not confronted with such a choice at such a time. We have the opportunity to study organ donation with a clear mind and come to a reasoned decision about whether to register.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, nearly 100,000 people across the nation are on waiting lists for organ transplants. Some 1,200 of them are in Washington state. But only 28,354 patients got transplants in 2007, according to UNOS.

The lists undergo constant change, of course. Every 12 minutes a new transplant candidate is added. Eighteen people a day die waiting.

In the nearly two decades during which Spokane’s Sacred Heart Medical Center has become a respected heart and kidney transplant site, medical advances in tissue typing and anti-rejection drugs have made the procedure even more successful.

But the law and public attitudes have not kept pace. In Olympia this year, the Legislature passed and the governor signed a measure that brings the state’s anatomical gift act more closely in line with laws in the rest of the nation.

That’s a major step, because when a Lear jet is rushing a freshly harvested heart from one state to another, seconds are too precious for red tape to become a factor.

Just this week in Spokane, a liver-transplant case has led to a review of insurance restrictions that almost deprived a patient of a needed procedure.

Still, the biggest gain to be achieved in this life-extending field is neither in law nor regulation.

It is for more people to decide that when they can no longer use their organs, somebody else should. Let Nevaeh Miller be their inspiration.