Now her daughter Kim is awaiting a liver transplant.

And her time is running out.

“When my son William died, it was a case of not thinking about organ donations in my sorrow,” Ms Fraser said.

“If I had, I would have gladly signed donation papers so somebody else could have lived,” she said. “But I wasn't aware of the need then.

“Now I am.

“And it's my daughter who needs the liver donation.

“But it's not just organs the doctors so desperately require - the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney also needs blood.

“They've already cancelled one operation over Christmas.

“They had a liver - but not enough blood.”

Ms Fraser told how her daughter had been instructed by the hospital on her last visit to return to her Dubbo home and “put her affairs in order.”

“We're not really a gutsy family; we just help each other,” Ms Fraser said.

“But we're actually the lucky ones.

“Some families lose everybody.

“This is something none of us can change, so we must accept it.”

Ms Fraser's daily task is to check the bag she has packed for her daughter, ready for the hoped-for call that would see Kim flown to Sydney.

“Every time the phone rings late at night, I think ‘We're a goer – we’re off’,” Ms Fraser said.

“We've all had bad dreams about planes taking off for Sydney without Kim. Once I leapt out of bed to hear a plane flying overhead.

“I yelled to Kim: ‘Oh no – you've missed your liver transplant’. Then I realised there hadn't been a phone call.”

To people who don't believe in organ transplants, Ms Fraser said: “Well, that's a matter for them.

“But to those who do, I can only say: Please fill in your donor cards and sign them.

“Then you won't have to deal with this matter in your moment of grief.

“I know the pain of losing the son I loved.

“Now I also know the pain of seeing my daughter's chances diminish each day – probably because someone didn't sign a donor card.”