As writers of fiction we conjure up heroes on a regular basis.
I don’t use the word hero loosely, and unlike the media and certain sports commentators, I don’t attach the ‘hero’ label to just anyone.
Today I did.
Today I heard from two very different types of heroes who told me about even more real-life heroes:
- those generous people who have planned to say ‘OK’ to organ and tissue donation to save lives, and
- those who say ‘OK’ to donating despite grieving the unexpected loss of a loved one.
In the name of research for book three – Season of Temperance – I attended a presentation by North Coast Area Health’s Organ and Tissue Donation Nurse, Anne Judd, and liver transplant recipient, Adam Gilmore.
As Anne explained the role of a country-based organ and tissue donation coordinator to the audience of mainly sexagenarians (and I am probably being generous there) I became aware of the depth and breadth of a role that exposes her to extremes: grief, anger, joy, fear, limitations, legalities, timeframes and clinical decision-making…
Wow! I will never complain about having a desk job again.
Then there was Adam.
Hero?
You bet. What this man and his family endured sounded too unreal to be true. Sadly there are too many more just like him.
What a story Adam had to tell.
How did I feel after listening?
Blessed and baffled – baffled that last year Australia had only 337 organ donations, while 1,700 waited on lists. Sadly, 20% of those waiting died without receiving a transplant.
More than anything, and most importantly, I was inspired to spread the ‘donate life’ message – hence my blog post.
Okay, I hear you! You are alive and well. What can you do? (After all, one can only “rip our heart from our chests” in fiction books – right?)
Let me tell you what you can do right now:
- Inform yourself on the subject and make the choice that is right for you. Get the facts, dispel the myths, be inspired – www.donatelife.gov.au
- Start the conversation with family (parents and children) so they understand your choice.
- Register your decision on the Australian Organ Donor Register and encourage friends to do the same.
Do it today, tomorrow, next week. But do it. Please.
Just click here to Donate Life online.
Now share this with your friends.
I was just talking about organ donation with my husband during this week. I have it registered on my driver’s license and in our wills that we did recently, but we were saying that that isn’t enough and you also have to register with the government database.
So thanks to your post I just clicked through to that, filled out the form and was told it was a duplicate registration… when I rang the head office the lady said I’d registered back in 2003. No wonder I didn’t remember! Do they do memory transplants?
This is a wonderful initiative Jenn. Thanks.
LOL Lily! I hear you on that memory transplant.