00;00;00;00 – 00;00;30;02
Layla’s Mum (from You Tube Short Video – Donate Life Australia website)
Layla was born with a rare liver disease. We were told that she would not survive to 12 months. There’s no medication that’s going to fix her. There’s nothing else we can do. We’re looking down at the transplant right now.
00;00;30;04 – 00;01;00;28
Fernando Gaggero (narration)
Welcome to another episode of the Extraordinary People podcast. I’m Fernando, today looking at how anonymous people give the gift of life to others when they die.
Through organ and tissue donation, they give a chance to others to stay alive and to live a better life through a transplant. And that’s the case with baby Layla. One of the many stories you can find in the Donate Life Australia website.
00;01;01;01 – 00;01;28;20
Layla’s Mum (from You Tube Short Video – Donate Life Australia Channel)
We finally did get that call, which was just absolutely amazing. After her transplant, she had life. She felt healthy for the first time. And then you also have a moment to think there’s another family saying goodbye to their loved one and then making this incredible decision. We’ll never know who they were, but they’re the reason that she’s here.
00;01;28;22 – 00;02;05;15
Fernando Gaggero (narration)
Donate life is an Australian government program aiming to increase organ and tissue donation in 2024. They reported approximately 1800 people on waitlist for an organ transplant in Australia, and approximately 14,000 more people on dialysis, many of whom could benefit from a kidney transplant. In that year, there were around a million registered donors, which represents approximately 40% of the eligible population.
00;02;05;17 – 00;02;35;23
Fernando Gaggero (narration)
And the numbers matter because being registered doesn’t mean being an eligible donor. A time of this, for instance, registered donors who don’t die in a hospital, or more precisely, in an ICU or an emergency department must be as included. Gift of life. A community organization based in the OECD. It’s also aiming to raise the organ donor, Chris Station, right, in Australia.
00;02;35;25 – 00;02;42;12
Fernando Gaggero (narration)
Its secretary, Scott Clouder, explains the challenge.
00;02;42;14 – 00;03;06;06
Scott Clouder
Most people in Australia support the concept of organ donation, but the sad fact is only about 36% of people are actually registered to be organ donors after they die. And so what we’re trying to do is bridge that gap between people’s good intentions and people’s support for the concept of being an open donor, and actually get people to take action and register through Medicare.
00;03;06;08 – 00;03;24;02
Scott Clouder
You can register as an organ and tissue donor through that Medicare app. It only takes three clicks if you’ve got the Medicare app on your phone. You can also do it for Donate Life after a year. That’s the government’s Donate Life website. You can also go to your Gift of Life website as well, where we’ve got links through to that.
00;03;24;02 – 00;03;48;25
Scott Clouder
But it’s a really simple process to register. It’s really important to involve family and friends in your decisions and your discussions. If you were to tragically die in those very certain specific circumstances, your family and next of kin would be asked for their consent. And so it’s really important that they know your wishes, but also so then they could honor your wishes.
00;03;48;27 – 00;04;21;07
Fernando Gaggero (narration)
And keep in mind that unless it’s a donation through a living family member. All donations are anonymous. So every day, anonymous ordinary people are given the gift of life to others, with ripple effects on families and friends who can see their loved ones alive and well, like Leyla and her family. I hope you find this episode informative. For more on this topic, please find the relevant links in the episode’s notes.
00;04;21;10 – 00;04;39;29
Fernando Gaggero (narration)
I’m Fernando from the Extraordinary People podcast. Remember to follow us on Spotify, Podbean or SoundCloud. Thank you for listening. Bye for now.