Hannah - bone graft recipient, VIC

During her early teenage years, sports fanatic Hannah knew what it was like to live with physical pain, though she rarely showed it.    

At the age of 10, Hannah was diagnosed with a condition called Osteochrondral Dissicans, a serious and painful joint condition in both of her knees.    

Despite her diagnosis, Hannah was determined to become an active member of several sports clubs including swimming, netball and basketball. She rode horses, enjoyed water skiing, and led a highly active lifestyle despite considerable joint pain, such was her love of sport.   

Over the course of several years, Hannah had 14 surgeries on both of her knees, and realignment surgery on both of her legs. Procedures failed, and each time her recovery was difficult, slow, and painful.    

Eventually, the condition became too debilitating, and the pain became too much. However, everything changed when Hannah underwent two ground-breaking bone and cartilage grafts in 2018 and 2019.    

The now 21-year-old nursing student credits her two donors and their families for enabling her to have a healthier, brighter future, and is encouraging everyone to register their decision to donate tissue on the Australian Organ Donor Register.     

“Thanks to the decisions of both my donors, and their families who honoured their decisions, I’m able to get on with my life and embrace the many interests I had before,” says Hannah.   

“I can still help out on my family’s farm, I can go hiking, and enjoy Pilates. I would not have been able to do these things were it not for the generosity of my donors.”