That Dubbo’s Katelin Shipp has been given a second chance on life from an organ transplant is wonderful news.
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The brave young woman has battled a terminal illness, cystic fibrosis, her whole life. Katelin’s health began to deteriorate earlier this month and her family was told only a double lung transplant would save her.
She was in a Sydney hospital where medical staff were doing everything possible to keep her alive and rush her to the top of the transplant list. Her family appealed to the community via social media to raise donations to support Katelin’s fight to survive.
Last Friday prayers, hopes and wishes were answered. The most important donation – the organs – had been found and Katelin had transplant surgery.
Her mother Kelli described it as “nothing short of a miracle”.
And so it was. Family, friends, supporters and the wider community will all be delighted. We will all continue barracking for Katelin.
The community can help spread this “miracle” to others.
A huge number of Australians are in desperate need of transplants, with nearly five times the number of people waiting for an organ donation as there are donors.
Contributing factors are the need for increased community awareness and engagement with organ donation and conversations with loved ones about becoming donors after death. They are not easy conversations and concepts. But, knowing a deceased loved one wanted to be a donor helps the surviving family make the decision.
A record 1,448 Australians received life-saving organ donations from 503 deceased donors in 2016. That figure was a significant increase on 2015, according to federal government figures released on Wednesday.
Newly-appointed Federal Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ken Wyatt said: “The decision to donate is one of the most selfless acts not only for the person receiving a lifesaving transplant but their families, friends and the communities they live in.
“That’s why it’s crucial that we talk together and raise awareness and acceptance of organ and tissue donation and continue to increase national consent rates in 2017 and beyond.”
Conversations about the death of a loved one are ghastly to contemplate, but could lead to the gift of life to someone else.