1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,520
Speaker 1: Well. Donate Live Week is our national awareness week that

2
00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,840
Speaker 1: takes place each year to encourage more Australians to get

3
00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:11,440
Speaker 1: behind organ and tissue donation. This year, Donate Live Week

4
00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,760
Speaker 1: is taking place well. It's kicked off on Sunday, the

5
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,319
Speaker 1: twenty seventh of July and ends this Sunday, the third

6
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,640
Speaker 1: of August. Now, four in five Australians say that they

7
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,160
Speaker 1: support donation, but only one in three people are registered

8
00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:29,680
Speaker 1: to be a donor on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

9
00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,320
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty five, Donate Life they want all Australians

10
00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,599
Speaker 1: to register as organ and tissue donors to be the

11
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:43,160
Speaker 1: reason that someone else gets a second chance at life. Now,

12
00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,960
Speaker 1: my next two guests understand the importance of donation more

13
00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,440
Speaker 1: than most. Now joining me in the studio this morning,

14
00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,080
Speaker 1: I have got Donate Live. Clinical nurse manager Lee Hill,

15
00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,960
Speaker 1: good morning to you, good morning, Thank you so much

16
00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,279
Speaker 1: for your time this morning. And I've also got Well Live.

17
00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,800
Speaker 1: A transplant recipient John Gilbert, Good morning to you, like

18
00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,399
Speaker 1: you're bing. It's great to have you both in the study.

19
00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,080
Speaker 1: Ho I think so very important to find out more

20
00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:15,640
Speaker 1: about donation on this very important week. Now, now Lee

21
00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,399
Speaker 1: can you tell me a little bit more about why

22
00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,959
Speaker 1: Donate Life Week is so important, about the importance of

23
00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:22,840
Speaker 1: course of donation.

24
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I guess in addition to what John's probably

25
00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,119
Speaker 2: going to talk about in story. But I'm a nurse.

26
00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,960
Speaker 2: I work at the hospital. I often meet people while

27
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,319
Speaker 2: I do in my job, meet people on what is

28
00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:35,759
Speaker 2: the worst day of their lives, where they're receiving often

29
00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,640
Speaker 2: the worst news of their lives. And then they meet

30
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,760
Speaker 2: me and I ask them a question, you know, I

31
00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,199
Speaker 2: offer them a decision. What I found in my experience

32
00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,240
Speaker 2: is that it is very difficult or much more difficult

33
00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,360
Speaker 2: for families to think about organ and tissue donation when

34
00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,960
Speaker 2: they don't know what their loved one wanted. And it

35
00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,120
Speaker 2: is I know you said around one in three Australians

36
00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:00,800
Speaker 2: are registered, about fifteen percent five percent of territory are registered.

37
00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:01,880
Speaker 1: That's a low number.

38
00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,280
Speaker 2: Is a lot of families that I speak to do

39
00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,920
Speaker 2: not know what their loved one wanted, and it just

40
00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,799
Speaker 2: adds an extra burden onto what is a very difficult situation.

41
00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,639
Speaker 2: So that's why we encourage people register your wishes, help

42
00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,520
Speaker 2: your family in that situation.

43
00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:20,520
Speaker 1: Well, and it can one hundred percent change a person's life, right.

44
00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,239
Speaker 2: Up to seven people's lives. Yeah, and you have more

45
00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:24,160
Speaker 2: with tissue donation.

46
00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,840
Speaker 1: Well, I mean that is it's it. You know, it

47
00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,680
Speaker 1: would be such a difficult choice for a family to make,

48
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,440
Speaker 1: you know, when they are in that situation where a

49
00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,640
Speaker 1: loved one is has passed away or is you know,

50
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:43,000
Speaker 1: passing away. But then the impact in a positive way

51
00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:48,560
Speaker 1: on somebody else's seven other people's lives is quite extraordinary.

52
00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:51,520
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And even you know, many families that we speak

53
00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,360
Speaker 2: to that do say yes to donation often say that

54
00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,440
Speaker 2: is the only shining light or the only comfort they

55
00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,640
Speaker 2: are able to take in such a dark time, knowing

56
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,639
Speaker 2: that there are other people that are not, other families

57
00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,240
Speaker 2: that aren't going through what they're going through the loss

58
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,560
Speaker 2: of a loved one. They've helped another family not go

59
00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:08,000
Speaker 2: through that.

60
00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, and like that really hits time. I think you know,

61
00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,080
Speaker 1: when you hear that and you think that, then the

62
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,800
Speaker 1: fact that you can be helping someone else is a

63
00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,040
Speaker 1: huge choice to make. Now, John, you know better than

64
00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:25,360
Speaker 1: most the positive impact that donation can have. Can you

65
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,480
Speaker 1: tell me I understand that you were sailing in the

66
00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,320
Speaker 1: Cape York when you became sick. Tell me a little

67
00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:32,360
Speaker 1: bit about what happened.

68
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,440
Speaker 3: Oh well, I was coming up on a boat from

69
00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,680
Speaker 3: Queensland up to go up on the Ambum Race from

70
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,839
Speaker 3: Darwin here and we had a bit of trouble. Ended

71
00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,640
Speaker 3: up on the beach basically in Cape York and ate

72
00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:53,040
Speaker 3: some poisonous fish, which in turn made me very sick.

73
00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:59,040
Speaker 3: I couldn't get over it, being evacuated to Cairns and

74
00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,920
Speaker 3: then from Cans back to Darwin and ended up in

75
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,560
Speaker 3: hospital in the early hours of the morning. He scanned

76
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,160
Speaker 3: me and they said, don't worry about the fish poisoning,

77
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,600
Speaker 3: worry about the tumor in your liver. So that was

78
00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:16,040
Speaker 3: the riot act I got read.

79
00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,279
Speaker 1: Oh mate, what was that like?

80
00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:24,839
Speaker 3: Then? Hearing that, well, it focuses the mind. I ended

81
00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:31,479
Speaker 3: up thinking about it, of course, and well really thinking

82
00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,000
Speaker 3: about my options. I was told that I'd be lucki

83
00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,640
Speaker 3: if I had six months. So I was there when

84
00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:43,279
Speaker 3: another doctor, doctor I knew him personally, and Darwin turned

85
00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,520
Speaker 3: up and asked if he could review my case. He

86
00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,559
Speaker 3: was from the Men's School of Health and he said

87
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,520
Speaker 3: that he could possibly see if I was capable of

88
00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:00,880
Speaker 3: having a transplant from Flinders down Alaid. So that's what

89
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,080
Speaker 3: I did. I said, of course, I'd go along with it,

90
00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,520
Speaker 3: try anything I could. So one thing led to another.

91
00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,360
Speaker 3: I went for tests down there, that was accepted. I

92
00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,560
Speaker 3: had to go down there and stay there because you

93
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:18,320
Speaker 3: have to be very close. So that led to it.

94
00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:23,440
Speaker 3: I spent five months in Adelaide waiting for a donor.

95
00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,040
Speaker 3: And it's very complicated. And the said, you know that

96
00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,280
Speaker 3: the donors are flown all over the country and from

97
00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:37,400
Speaker 3: New Zealand apparently as well, right, so you never know when,

98
00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:42,320
Speaker 3: where or why, and you have to attend clinics constantly,

99
00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:47,360
Speaker 3: of course, and there's various interventions where they try to

100
00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,240
Speaker 3: stop in my case the cancer getting too big, that

101
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:56,599
Speaker 3: you're getting too big. And then from there they you

102
00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,440
Speaker 3: go to these clinics and you see other sick people

103
00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:04,599
Speaker 3: getting sicker, and it's it's a hard toll, but it's

104
00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:09,040
Speaker 3: nowhere near as hard as for the donors. Yeah, I

105
00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:09,640
Speaker 3: thank them.

106
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,680
Speaker 1: How many years ago was that?

107
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:14,680
Speaker 3: That was late two thousand and nine.

108
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:21,280
Speaker 1: Wow, And so so you received that liver donation and

109
00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:23,919
Speaker 1: life has has been going really well for you.

110
00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,760
Speaker 3: Life's been very good. I've been very lucky. Yeah, I've

111
00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,679
Speaker 3: never been sick after it. It took me three months

112
00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,280
Speaker 3: to get over it. I had a bit of a relapse,

113
00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,159
Speaker 3: but they pulled me had of that basically took me

114
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,520
Speaker 3: off the medication. Just that too much medication time. Yeah,

115
00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,240
Speaker 3: And from there I ended up on some quite simple

116
00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,920
Speaker 3: anti rejection medication. That's where I'm doing.

117
00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:57,320
Speaker 1: How grateful are you to that donor and and you know,

118
00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,760
Speaker 1: to that person's family for your second chain it's at life.

119
00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:08,239
Speaker 3: Well, well, that's that's exactly. It's a second chance. I tried.

120
00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:12,960
Speaker 3: I tried. I can't contact you, it's it's absolutely an

121
00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:17,320
Speaker 3: amenity from this, but you are allowed to write letters.

122
00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,520
Speaker 3: I wrote letters to to the down a family told

123
00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:24,160
Speaker 3: them that I've got I've got quite a big family

124
00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,760
Speaker 3: myself in Darling here, and I've wrote and thanked him

125
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,000
Speaker 3: for my daughters and my grandkids and my great grandkids.

126
00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:35,480
Speaker 1: Oh, mate, that makes me want to cry. That's so,

127
00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:36,640
Speaker 1: that's so nice.

128
00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,560
Speaker 3: Well it was. I never heard back from them, but

129
00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,680
Speaker 3: I'm told that they're appreciative of receiving it. And I

130
00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:47,600
Speaker 3: certainly said how appreciative.

131
00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:53,280
Speaker 1: I was, bet, how appreciative are your kids and your grandkids?

132
00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:59,200
Speaker 3: Very really But also since then, since then, I've had

133
00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,120
Speaker 3: another door to come out of the woodwork basically really from

134
00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:09,280
Speaker 3: many years ago for misspent youth, I suppose. And she's

135
00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,520
Speaker 3: very grateful, and she's a nurse. She understands these things

136
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,720
Speaker 3: and was appreciative of how lucky it was that I

137
00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:20,280
Speaker 3: managed to receive a donation.

138
00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it just like it really gives listeners,

139
00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:30,280
Speaker 1: you know, the absolute insight into how important donation is.

140
00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,120
Speaker 3: Right. I've met quite a few other people over the

141
00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,960
Speaker 3: years that have had various different types of donation, and

142
00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:42,880
Speaker 3: there's there's a lot more the other livers, which of

143
00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:46,880
Speaker 3: course are big things, but there's the kidneys, and there's cornerers,

144
00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,760
Speaker 3: and there's all sorts of things that can be used.

145
00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:54,960
Speaker 1: Which you never even think of, you know, like for

146
00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:56,840
Speaker 1: so many of us, you don't even think of that.

147
00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,120
Speaker 1: I mean, in wrapping up, what is your message for

148
00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,959
Speaker 1: Territorians today when it comes to too organ donation.

149
00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,320
Speaker 3: In my case, it's got on board because I do

150
00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:14,960
Speaker 3: my best to try and encourage people. I'm even a

151
00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:19,920
Speaker 3: donor myself. Left you can have it, Yeah, I'm sorry.

152
00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,080
Speaker 3: You know, you have to be a little bit blunt

153
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:27,720
Speaker 3: about that sort of thing. And and I realized that,

154
00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,640
Speaker 3: you know, at the time of donation it's a very

155
00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,480
Speaker 3: hard time for the family. So if they if they

156
00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:39,079
Speaker 3: know that their loved one was hoping to be of help,

157
00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,240
Speaker 3: let's shaw, you know, to donate them. I think they should.

158
00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, and yeah absolutely. John sort of hit the

159
00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,400
Speaker 2: nail on the head there, I think everybody, I guess

160
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,320
Speaker 2: My message is no one ever thinks this is going

161
00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,720
Speaker 2: to happen to them, but I'm I can tell you

162
00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,640
Speaker 2: it does happen. It happens in the territory. And it's

163
00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,120
Speaker 2: so much easier for a family to know what their

164
00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,320
Speaker 2: loved one wanted in that difficult time, rather than to

165
00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,040
Speaker 2: be left wondering and to have to make a decision

166
00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,200
Speaker 2: in the acute throes of grief. And to also think,

167
00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,560
Speaker 2: I know it's common to think about organ donation, and

168
00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,320
Speaker 2: you know, people don't want to think about death and dying.

169
00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,000
Speaker 2: But then just think about people like John, think about

170
00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,400
Speaker 2: the transplants. It's not just about that sad time. It's

171
00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:22,000
Speaker 2: actually about helping other people.

172
00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, which is an incredible thing to do. Now, if

173
00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,320
Speaker 1: people are out there listening this morning and they are

174
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,480
Speaker 1: thinking to themselves, all right, I want to make sure

175
00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:30,880
Speaker 1: I'm registered. Where should they go.

176
00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,440
Speaker 2: So they can go to donatelife dot gov dot AU.

177
00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:35,679
Speaker 2: It's a quick and easy way. It takes about forty

178
00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,520
Speaker 2: five seconds, name, date of birth, Midicare card number, postcode,

179
00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,200
Speaker 2: submit and then you're registered. Or you can go through

180
00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,640
Speaker 2: the MYCV app or website and register that way.

181
00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:46,400
Speaker 3: Well.

182
00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,880
Speaker 1: Thank you both so very much for your time this morning.

183
00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,840
Speaker 1: Clinical Nerves Manager at Royal Dalen Hospital, Lee Hill, thank

184
00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,280
Speaker 1: you so much for your time and Live A transplant

185
00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,320
Speaker 1: recipient John Gilbert really appreciate you sharing your story with

186
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,480
Speaker 1: us today. Thank you, thankye