WODONGA resident Ronwyn Davies was on the verge of death last year and, though she has survived, there are 3500 other Australians facing a similar ordeal.
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Mrs Davies waited for a liver transplant for seven months, though the crucial organ had been slowly deteriorating for 14 years.
By the time it became critical enough for her to be put on a waiting list she was severely ill and, two months after being added to the queue, she developed secondary life threatening diseases.
Transplants have only been common for about 20 years and started with only a few organs.
Now transplants include the heart, kidney and lungs plus pancreas, small and large intestine, bone marrow, corneas, skin, bone and heart valves.
Mrs Davies’ had primary sclerosing cholangitis, a disease that blocks bile ducts (bile processes food) in the liver and makes them frizzle up.
Because the bile had nowhere to go it surfaced to her skin, making it look yellow.
“It is virtually a silent disease,” she said.
“There is no pain; you just turn lethargic and yellow.”
Many people die while on the waiting list and the months and days beforehand are tough.
Yesterday was the last day of Organ Donation Awareness Week and Mrs Davies has shared her story so others might understand why it is so vital to donate.
“Waiting for a transplant is just the start, because one disease leads to another; if I didn’t die from my liver disease, I would die from the cancer, and if it wasn’t the cancer my kidneys would eventually go,” she said.
“Only one in every three organs is a match and you could have seven available one week and then none available for weeks.
“Every day you are just waiting for the phone call while you are staring death in the face.”
Australia has the largest success rate of organ transplants yet it has one of the lowest numbers of organ donors.
Mrs Davies said some people chose not to donate because of their beliefs while others simply never get around to it.
“Some people don’t really think about it much,” she said.
“But when it is in your own family it really hits home.”
She said recipients of organ transplants were working hard to increase awareness.
“If one person becomes a donor they could save 10 peoples lives.
“All you have to do is sign a form.”
For more information on signing up to become a donor, go to www.transplant.org.au
