DonateLife Week: Highlighting the remarkable success of Kevin Maggs

Kevin Maggs, who has changed the way liver transplants are done, is the face of DonateLife Week.

Canterbury Bulldogs player Christian Crichton signs the T-shirt for the club’s big fan Mark Galea.

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Canterbury Bulldog players are promoting organ donation week for the first time by fronting up at local hospitals and chatting to people.

Bulldogs duo Christian Crichton and Jayden Okunbor delighted visitors during their visit to Liverpool Hospital on Monday as a part of the focus on DonateLife Week. It is widely promoted among south west hospitals including Bankstown-Lidcombe.

The Bulldogs shared the spotlight with Gledswood Hills father Kevin Maggs, a donor recipient trailblazer, with transplants now done differently due to his experiences.

Kevin Maggs, who has had three liver transplants, with his wife Meredith.

The Bulldogs community manager Saree Boutros said they are happy to support the initiative by Liverpool Hospital.

“This is the first time we are endorsing DonateLife Week and like to drum up support for it,” he said.

Mr Maggs, 57, has undergone three liver transplants since 2004 after contracting hepatitis C

at the age of 19 via a blood transfusion.

Canterbury Bulldogs players Jayden Okunbor and Christian Crichton with the Organ and Tissue team, Vanessa Palmer, Bessie Berberovic and Michael Boyle.

Mr Maggs has his first liver transplant was in April 2004 but his body rejected the split liver after five years. Now hepatitis C donor recipients no longer receive these transplants.

“When they wheel me off to theatre (for a transplant), I put on my boxing gloves and get ready for the fight of my life,” Mr Maggs said.

“I just want to say a big thank you to all of the amazing doctors and nurses who have helped me through this journey and ask everyone waiting for a transplant to ‘put their gloves on and

fight like hell’, we are all right behind you.”

MIRACLE

His wife Meredith said it was a miracle her husband has survived the transplants.

“It’s an unusual feeling knowing a family has lost someone and we have been given a chance,” she said.

“It’s hard to find the words to describe but we do our absolute best to respect the

organ and the life it may never have had.

“We often think about the donors and their families and are very thankful for them helping Kevin.”

Mr Maggs’ second transplant in July 2009 lasted just 40 hours before his body rejected it. The liver was full of fat, which also led to changes in the way organs were tested before being given to donor recipients.

His third was a complete mismatch — it was from a female, it was smaller, the wrong blood

type and arrived just hours before doctors said he would die. But it is now 10 years since that transplant.

South Western Sydney Local Health District Chief Executive Amanda Larkin said DonateLife

Week was a great opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation.

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