The Australian government is now operating in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election.
Ray is a Marrithiyal (from the Daly River in the Northern Territory) and a Miriam Mer man (from Murray island on his father’s side).
For 4 and a half years, Ray was on the transplant waitlist and surviving on dialysis due to kidney failure
“I probably neglected my health for a long time and I paid the price – my kidney was failing and it was going downhill. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the seriousness of what the doctor was saying. When I started haemodialysis, it rocked my world.”
“I had to go and see a psychologist because with haemodialysis you’ve got 2 needles in your arm and you have to stick that in your arm twice a week for 4 hours a day. It’s not a very nice process but unfortunately you have to do it. There is no other choice.”
In 2023, Ray received the life-changing call that there was a kidney match for him. Ray shared that this gift allows him to, “spend more time with [his] grandchildren. It’s given [him] a second chance at life.”
Ray needed a deceased donor kidney because his family are unable to become living donors due to the high risk that his family members will develop kidney disease down the track due to a genetic predisposition.
“As indigenous people, it’s very difficult to get live donors from our family members because kidney failure is becoming widespread in the Aboriginal community,” Ray said.
Ray continues to share his transplantation story and break down barriers with First Nations communities in the hope of encouraging them to register to be an organ donor and discuss it with their families.
“Culturally, our Mob has been a little hesitant to register as donors. But with so many people needing a life-saving transplant and so many indigenous people on the waiting list, it’s time that we really had a think about this and to rethink the importance of registering to be an organ and tissue donor.”
Ray is an active advocate and supporter of DonateLife – he has been featured on Talk Black Radio in Cairns, National Indigenous Television (NITV) and in our national DonateLife Week 2023 campaign.
