Why organ donations are so important for South Australia | Jess Adamson

A friend of mine lost her husband last year – but from his death came something so selfless that it saved the lives of two strangers, writes Jess Adamson.

A friend of mine lost her husband last year.

Tim was the father of three beautiful children. A gentle and kind man who loved his family, fishing, wine and his mates.

It happened so suddenly.

Tim was mowing his mother-in-law’s lawn on a sunny Sunday afternoon when he suffered a catastrophic aneurysm. Within hours he was on life support in the Royal Adelaide Hospital. His wife Ange, their children and his close friends held his hands and said goodbye.

Tim was only 54.

I cannot even imagine how devastating that time was for them.

But in that hospital room, on the worst day of their lives, they did something so selfless. They chose to donate his organs and by doing so, gave the gift of life to two perfect strangers.

Tim died of an aneurysm at 54. Picture: Supplied

Tim’s family chose to donate his organs. Picture: Supplied

“When the opportunity was presented to us, it made me feel that someone needed to get something good from this tragedy,” Ange said.

“As time has progressed, knowing that Tim’s final legacy in death, was in fact to save lives is something we feel very proud of.

“He gave a very special gift to people whose lives matter.”

It makes me incredibly proud that South Australia has the highest organ donation rate in the country.

Our consent rate is 73 per cent. Almost three quarters of us that have either ticked the box on our driver’s license or said yes on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

We’ve said yes to giving our organs to someone we’ve never met and never will. It restores my faith in humanity. But I was staggered to learn recently that even with the highest consent rate in the nation, SA only has 45-50 donors each year.

Here’s why.

About 12,000 people die in SA each year. But in order to donate your heart, lungs, liver, pancreas or kidneys you must die in an intensive care unit, on a ventilator.

That number is about 800 people and, of those, only about 80 people are eligible to donate – many are ruled out for health or age reasons.

Of those 80 people, an average of 45-50 each year say yes to giving their organs. There are currently 1750 Australians waiting for an organ transplant. There are simply not enough to go around and people are dying because they don’t get the call in time.

So many things need to go right. A perfect match needs to be found and the timing is critical.

I remember being at the old RAH covering a news story when a fleet of vehicles arrived with lights and sirens, bearing the most precious of gifts in a small blue Esky.

The convoy had been given a “green corridor” by police all the way from the airport – a run of traffic lights to ensure they got to the RAH as quickly as possible. It was spine-tingling to think someone was about to get a second chance at life.

DonateLife SA state medical director Dr Stewart Moodie says we need to talk more about dying, in life. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Intensive care specialist and DonateLife SA state medical director Dr Stewart Moodie says we need to talk more about dying, in life.

“Talking to your family about donation and normalising it is such an important thing to do, it can help your family at that difficult time,” he says. “We hide death away, we don’t talk about it, we don’t acknowledge our mortality, death is what happens to other people.”

Saying yes on our licence or on the register isn’t legally binding.

Your family can decide not to give your organs even if you’ve shown your intent – but in nine out of 10 cases, they press on.

We are the only state in the country that uses the driver’s licence to indicate we’re happy to give organs. So why don’t we go one step further, and move to an opt out system? It’s a community discussion happening all over the world.

By putting the onus on the minority to register “no”, surely we have a better chance of increasing our donation rate.

The law would simply consider all adults to be donors, unless we’ve told them otherwise. And our families would still have the power to veto a donation if they wanted to.

Dr Moodie says, with a limit to the number of organs available, we must use the resource as best we can.

“There just aren’t enough organs and there probably never will be because of the diseases we’re dealing with.

“That inevitably means that some people who would benefit from a transplant won’t get one and that’s sad.”

A few years ago, Brazilian businessman Thane Chiquinho Scarpa made headlines when he buried his million-dollar Bentley so that he could drive around the afterlife in style.

He was heavily criticised for such an extravagant gesture. But as the car was lowered into the ground he revealed his real motive – to create awareness for organ donation.

Tim died of an aneurysm at 54. Picture: Supplied

“People condemn me because I wanted to bury a million-dollar Bentley, in fact, many people bury something a lot more valuable than my car,” he said.

He made an excellent point.

For Tim’s family, the organ donation meant they had more time to try and comprehend his sudden death.

“It was very respectful. I felt like we were in control of the situation the whole time,” Ange said.

“They made it very clear to us that the decision was 100 per cent with us, we didn’t feel at all pressured.

“I just said to the kids, do you think dad would want to donate his organs? They just looked at me and said of course he would, if it was going to save someone’s life.”

And it did.

So, as we head towards Christmas, please consider the greatest gift you could give and talk to your family about organ donation.

Make it clear to them what your choice is, so that when the time comes – and sadly it will – their decision is easier.

Consider saying yes to a corneal donation. Imagine giving someone the gift of sight, the most powerful of our senses. In SA, there are about 120 corneal transplants a year thanks to generous donors.

My friend will have Christmas without her husband and her children without their dad, but they take so much comfort from knowing two people can enjoy this Christmas because of Tim.

“It’s the gift of life and for us it’s something that reminds us our husband and father was such a decent and good guy.

“He would do anything for anyone.”

In life, and in death.