Melton MP Don Nardella is pleading with more Victorians to donate their organs when they die even though the state topped the list of Australian states and territories for organ donation last year.
Latest data shows that 117 Victorians donated their organs in 2014, exceeding the previous record of 110 set in 2013.
Those 117 donors transformed the lives of 352 people.
Mr Nardella, who has become an organ donor himself, wants Victorians to have the conversation with their families about becoming donors.
“To keep saving lives, all Victorians should consider being a donor, discuss it with their families and then register,” Mr Nardella said.
“I decided to become an organ donor to ensure others could survive should the worst occur.
“There’s no doubt thousands are alive today because of the decision selfless individuals or their families made at a time of loss.”
Of the 369 organs transplanted last year from Victorian donors, 202 were kidneys, 64 livers, 53 lungs, 31 hearts, 13 pancreases, one heart-lung and five pancreas islets, which are clusters of pancreatic cells.
“Organ donors save lives,” Mr Nardella said.
“There are more than 1600 Australians awaiting organ transplants and currently organ donations are possible in less than one per cent of hospital deaths.”
Dr Helen Opdam, of DonateLife Victoria, commended the generosity of organ donors and their families but said it shouldn’t stop there. “To save even more lives, I ask that we all do our part today by discovering the facts about organ and tissue donation, deciding and registering that decision on the Australian Organ Donor Register and discussing it with our loved ones,” Dr Opdam said.
One organ and tissue donor can transform 10 or more lives.
More information
Visit www.donatelife.gov.au.
