The Australian government is now operating in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election.
Lucy was diagnosed with a rare form of heart failure called dilated cardiomyopathy when she was only 3 weeks old. Her only option was a heart transplant, which she received after 7 months on the waitlist.
‘This is very difficult to put into words,’ mum Kate says of the experience. ‘It was an incredibly special time but also a very difficult one. There are two sides to this story and our first thought was to our donor family. On their darkest of days, they thought of others and chose to give life to a complete stranger.
‘I completely broke down. My first thought was to that incredibly special family who were going through the worst tragedy imaginable and chose to give the gift of life and ultimately save the life of our daughter, our Lucy. There are no words.
‘My heart ached for our donor family. As we were preparing for Lucy to receive her second chance, they, somewhere out there, were preparing to say goodbye to their child whose life had been tragically and unfairly cut short, yet in their despair, they had the strength and courage to think of others.’
Lucy is now a happy, outgoing and active 7-year-old. She’s a keen swimmer and loves sharks, dinosaurs and everything involving nature. When she grows up, she wants to be a scientist or a doctor.
‘There have been more times than I can count when Lucy’s life was on a knife’s edge,’ says Kate, ‘I wondered if we would ever get the chance to see her grow up, to witness her first day of school and to experience the normality of a childhood. It really is the most incredible gift that can be given.
‘Lucy has been gifted a childhood and the chance to grow up and live her life to the very fullest.’
To Lucy’s donor and their family, Kate has the following message:
‘We think of you and your beautiful family every single day. We are forever grateful and humbled with the gift we have been given. We look at the world differently to everyone else, for we know that every single moment truly is a gift and therefore, nothing is ever taken for granted. This little heart has enabled first words, first steps, first days of kindy and school… it has enabled life. A life that would have ended at just weeks of age without the greatest of gifts.
We hope your special family knows that this darling hero heart is so very loved and well looked after. We treasure every single day. ‘Thank you’ will never be enough.
This is organ donation. The gift of life.’
