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Key Points
- According to DonateLife Australia, 1,800 people in Australia are waiting for an organ transplant.
- Once a person die, his/her seven organs can be used for transplant within 45 minutes, a doctor explains.
- After a heart transplant, Vino Kumar says he is living a normal and healthy life.
A tech professional who migrated to Australia in 2008 from India, he had no reason to believe the day would unfold any differently.
Vino Kumar. Credit: Supplied/Vino Kumar
“I still remember that moment,” Kumar recalled.
Kumar had suffered a sudden and severe heart attack.
I was fit and healthy. I rarely saw a doctor. I couldn’t believe I had a heart attack.
Vino Kumar, heart receiver
Living with the BiVAD was an overwhelming and surreal experience. A machine was now keeping him alive.
“I woke up two or three days later … and I had a new heart beating inside me. That moment filled my eyes with tears — tears of joy and sorrow. I got my life back, but someone else had lost theirs.”
Vino Kumar recovering from his heart transplant. Credit: Supplied/Vino Kumar
With a new heart, he said, came a renewed sense of purpose, hope and energy.
Organ donation, Vino believes, isn’t just about saving a life, it’s about restoring someone’s future.
1,800 people in Australia are waiting for an organ transplant
DonateLife Week, which runs from July 27 to August 3, is a time to raise awareness and encourage Australians to register as organ and tissue donors.
Lucinda Barry, CEO of DonateLife. Credit: DonateLife
“DonateLife Week is key week where we ask everybody to have that chat about organ and tissue donation, and importantly people who support donation to register and let their family know that I want to be a donor and its really simple and easy to register,” Barry said.
“It takes less than a minute to be able to register you support for donation.”
Organ donors: ‘Every registration matters’
“As a doctor, I have seen many patients with kidney and heart failure. That’s what inspired me to register as an organ donor. My entire family is registered organ donor too.”
Once I die, my seven organs can be used for transplant within 45 minutes.
Dr Dhaval Ghelani, Director of Intensive Care, Norwest Private Hospital, Sydney
“The reality is, only a small percentage (of donors) will be able to donate all organs. So every registration matters,” Dr Ghelani said.
Dr Dhaval Ghelani. Credit: Supplied/Dr Dhaval Ghelani
Religious beliefs are often seen as a barrier to organ donation. But community leaders are helping to dispel those myths.
