AT THE start of 2012, Leeton resident Bob Gordon was praying for a miracle.
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Mr Gordon needed a kidney transplant after being on the “waiting list” for six years.
He had been sick with the disease nephritis since the age of 18 and was deteriorating quickly.
Mr Gordon said he was one of the lucky ones and was able to receive a kidney transplant thanks to a donor.
“I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t have that transplant,” Mr Gordon said.
“I’m so grateful. It was something I had been living with for most of my life. I definitely think there should be some kind of law in place that if a person puts down that they would like to be a donor then that’s it. Decision made.
“What happens today is you can have that written down, but after you pass your family can still decide whether or not to do it.”
Mr Gordon has spent his life in and out of doctor’s waiting rooms, in hospital and many hours spent receiving dialysis prior to the life-saving transplant.
He said it was difficult living with serious illness in a regional area as access to services wasn’t as easy for those closer to larger centres. To this day, Mr Gordon still has to take 161 tablets a week to ensure he stays fit and healthy, but he said it was a small price to pay.
He said the long hours of dialysis were draining and it was no way to live.
“For six-and-a-half years I was on dialysis, which meant driving to Griffith three times a week,” Mr Gordon said.
“I think I did about 130,000 kilometres. You would sit there for about five hours, come home and have a rest and then you would start to come good again that night.
“However, by about the middle of the next day you start to go downhill again. It’s not a good quality of life.”
Mr Gordon said one simple conversation could help save numerous lives.
“People should definitely talk about their wishes with their family,” he said. “It saved my life. I count myself very lucky.”
Donate Life Week began on Sunday and encourages residents to think about making a choice when it comes to organ donation.
Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) donor specialist nurse Sarah Woolley said in 2015 1117 Australian lives were transformed as a result of organ donation.
“Nearly 4000 tissue donors helped to improve the lives of over 5500 tissue transplant recipients, some receiving multiple grafts,” she said.
With one organ and tissue donor able to transform the lives of 10 or more people, it’s a conversation that could one day save lives.”