We all have the capacity to make a difference

This pristine morning saw the sun shining brightly on the bustling commuters spilling out from Flinders Street station, seemingly not fazed by the nippy seven degrees. But it wouldn’t have mattered, had it been a gloomy weekday, because as life throbbed along outside, something poignantly powerful was unfolding inside the walls of Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

We gradually filled the foyer – DonateLife staff, medical experts, researchers, donor families, live donors, organ recipients, volunteers and more – all integral parts of the organ donation family. The pulsating energy and goodwill amongst the crowd of 250 at this particular event is a given at all DonateLife occasions.

I took a seat next to, Clem, a lawyer from Western Australia. Immediately into deep conversation before proceedings commenced, I learnt that Clem had received a kidney from his older brother seven years earlier. Was it fate that we just happened to sit next to each other? Clem was encouraged to learn that I too, like his brother was a live donor, and my kidney which I donated to my twin sister has given her life for near on 45 years.

The inaugural DonateLife community forum was indeed crammed full, promising: testimonies from donor families, all with heart-wrenching stories to tell, from recipients, forever grateful for being gifted a second chance at life, having their sight restored or being freed from a life hooked up to a dialysis machine – and many more of those, touched somehow by the miracle of transplantation.

Early in the day we heard from Oren, whose eldest son, Jack, died of meningococcal disease at 18. Oren, who became a powerful advocate for organ donation explained how Jack, as a registered donor had simplified the decision for his parents, to consent to his becoming a donor. Jack had previously made his wishes clear, never imagining that tragically those wishes would be fulfilled so imminently, and in so doing, transforming the lives of five recipients.