LESS than a quarter of eligible Frankston residents are signed up to be organ donors.
Langwarrin resident James Irvin is urging people to sign up to donate their organs. If it weren’t for organ donation, he may not be alive today.
Irvin underwent a kidney and pancreas transplant in 2015. The procedure was needed after it was discovered he had end-stage renal failure after a routine physical for work.
After a year on the waiting list, Irvin received the news that a donor kidney had become available. He soon underwent the life-saving operation.
“You don’t have the words to thank the family who consented to donating their loved ones organs. Somebody dear to them passed away, and rather than that be the end of it, they’ve provided an opportunity for that death to have meaning to complete strangers,” Irvin said. “I’m sure I wouldn’t have been the only one to receive an organ transplant because of their decision. There will, I’m sure, be other people that are going to be sorry that this person did pass away, but so grateful for their gift.”
DonateLife estimates that just 24 per cent of people in Frankston who are eligible to give their organs have agreed to do so, far fewer than the national average of 36 per cent.
Around 1750 people are on the waitlist for organ donation. This DonateLife week, running from 24 July to 31 July, eligible people are being encouraged to sign up.
DonateLife Victoria medical director Dr Rohit D’Costa says that signing up is easy and could save lives. “We know the biggest barrier to families saying yes to donation is not knowing their family member wanted to be a donor,” he said. “When donation is possible, it helps when families know what their loved one wanted. Across Australia, 9 in 10 families say yes to donation when their loved one was a registered donor, and this number is halved when a person is not registered and has not shared their wishes with their family.
“In Australia there are 13 million people aged 16 and over who are eligible to register as organ and tissue donors – but haven’t. Turning that number around starts with every single person who registers this DonateLife Week. We’re aiming to get 100,000 more Australians signed on as organ and tissue donors and to give hope to the 1,750 Australians currently on the waitlist for an organ transplant.”
In the Kingston LGA just 21 per cent of eligible people are registered as organ donors.
To sign up as an organ donor visit donatelife.gov.au or use the Medicare app.
