Giving the gift of life

Every day, the Pantazis family give their little girl Mia an extra hug and kiss for the family whose selfless act saved her life.

Bill and Fiona Pantazis with Zoe, 1, Eli 3, and Mia, 1, at home in Kellyville. Pictures: Justin Sanson

Every day, the Pantazis family give their little girl Mia an extra hug and kiss for the family whose selfless act to donate their loved one’s organs­ saved her life.

Without an organ donation, Mia would not be alive today.

Fiona Pantazis gave birth to twin girls, Mia and Zoe, last year and while Zoe was perfectly healthy, Mia was born with a rare condition known as biliary atresia, which meant her bile ducts had been destroyed and her liver could not work properly.

The Pantazis family.

It was not until Mia was about six weeks old that Mrs Pantazis and her husband Bill realised something was wrong.

“There were some changes between skin colour, Zoe was quite fair and Mia became quite yellow and her stools changed colour and her eyes started to become­ quite yellow too,” Mrs Pantazis said.

“So I called the paediatrician and I just told him what I’d noticed and he advised­ us to quickly pack a bag and he thought that she had biliary atresia.”

Tests confirmed the diagnosis and Mia underwent an operation to try and rectify the issue, but the procedure was unsuccessful.

“It became quite clear within the month that it hadn’t worked with Mia and we knew then that she would be looking down the road for a transplant,” Mrs Pantazis said.

Mia is now thriving at home in Kellyville with her family.

Doctors told the Kellyville couple that without a transplant, Mia would not live past her first birthday.

“Waiting is the hardest part,” Mrs Pantazis said.

“It is a horrible feeling knowing the situation; that someone has to pass away in order for your child to survive­.”

Mia received the lifesaving transplant at eight months old, after being on the waiting list for just a few weeks. Although Mia had a number of setbacks post-transplant — including undergoing five surgeries in five weeks — she eventually began to thrive and recently celebrated her first birthday together with Zoe and their older brother Eli, 3.

“She is absolutely amazing, it’s like we have a new child,” Mrs Pantazis said.

Zoe and Mia celebrated their first birthday recently.

Ken Bock, of Carlingford, has also seen first-hand the benefits of organ donation.

The Castle Hill Players actor received a double corneal transplant 10 years ago, giving him the freedom of living life without contact lenses.

Mr Bock developed keratoconus when he was 19, a condition that causes misshapen corneas and resulted in significant visual impairment.

After more than 40 years of wearing hard contact lenses to help correct his vision, Mr Bock required a corneal transplant.

Ken Bock, 76, at his Carlingford home.

Mr Bock, 76, said the transplants were “very successful” and had given him more freedom over his life.

“I used to have to plan my day around the contact lenses because I had to conserve wearing time,” he said.

More than 1500 people are waiting for lifesaving transplants, yet fewer than a third of Australians have registered on the national donor register.

The Pantazis family dote on each other.

This week is DonateLife Week and Mr Bock encouraged people to consider signing up to the Australian Organ Donation Register.

“Give it very, very serious consideration,” he said.

Mrs Pantazis said organ donations gave other people a “second chance at life”.

“When someone passes it has got to be the hardest decision you will ever have to make, but if it wasn’t for the donor family making that decision­ Mia wouldn’t have made her first birthday,” she said.

“And how can you thank someone for that?”

To register, visit the Australian Organ Donor Register website.