Australians are urged to organ donate after rates drop to alarmingly low levels

New studies show that organ donations are at an alarmingly low level in Australia, with one in two families saying no to donating.

Sydney mum Michelle Daley had two transplants at 35 after a sporting accident. Picture: John Feder

Organ donation rates across Australia have dropped to alarmingly low levels, while the list of people waiting for lifesaving organ transplants continue to grow.

According to Transplant Australia, the family consent rate stands at just 54 per cent, with 46 per cent of families declining to allow the organs of their loved ones to used for donation.

Meanwhile, 1859 Australians continue to wait for a live-saving transplant.

Only about 2 per cent of people who die in hospital can be considered as an organ donor, which is why increasing the number of people and families who say yes to donation is critical to saving more lives, Transplant Australia says.

Only one in three Australians are currently registered as donors.

Transplant Australia chief executive Chris Thomas attributes the decline in donation rates to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Between 2010 to 2019, we had the best organ donation rates occurring. Then Covid hit and hos­pital resources were diverted towards the pandemic and that’s where we saw the rates take a hit,” he told The Australian.

“During this time, the conversations with the families of potential donors were taking place through Zoom and it wasn’t an ­encouraging environment for this type of conversation,” he said.

“While the pandemic is largely behind us now, our donation rates haven’t recovered.

“We’re obviously concerned about that. We really need to reset the conversation in Australia and so all Australians have a better understanding of the change they can make in someone else’s life.”

Sydney mum Michelle Daley had two transplants at 35, after a sporting accident had ruptured her liver. “It was the early days of women’s AFL in Sydney,” said Ms Daley, now 56. “I was playing Aussie Rules and it was just one bad tackle that I had initiated on someone. And somehow – I think it might’ve been their elbow – I landed on quite hard and that tackle basically ruptured my liver,” she said.

“That was the start of it all.”

The liver is a unique organ in our body as it can regenerate itself after damage. Unfortunately for Ms Daley, however, the rest of her organ declined into sudden liver failure and couldn’t be saved.

“That’s how I ended up needing the first transplant,” she said.

“The doctors agreed to give me an urgent liver transplant, otherwise I wouldn’t have survived that day. And luckily for me, I was very generously gifted a liver – it wasn’t particularly healthy, but it bought some time.

“And then three days later, I was incredibly fortunate to get a second liver and that’s bought (me) a lot of time. 21 years of time.”

More than two decades later, Ms Daley lives happily with her partner and daughter. She is thank­ful for her life being saved and encourages others to think about it.

“Like most people, I thought that I would be more likely to donate than need an organ transplant, but actually it’s the other way around,” she said.

“You’re much more likely to need a transplant than ever be in the position to be able to donate.”

For 54-year-old Linda Hindom, it was a no-brainer to donate one of her kidneys when her husband Laurie needed it.

“No hesitation, they (the doctors) didn’t even have to ask the question,” she told the Australian.

Mr Hindom was born with a rare genetic disease that runs in his family, with four of his siblings also receiving kidney transplants before him.

“The disease Laurie has manifests later in life, like when you’re in your 50s,” Ms Hindom said. She was tested and was a confirmed match. In 2021, she donated one of her kidneys to her husband and they competed for the first time in the World Transplant Games, where they both won.

A new documentary about organ donations called Second Chance Champions airs on Friday at 1pm on Network 10.