Sime - donor, VIC
There was no denying Sime Thornton’s love and enthusiasm for many things in life. He was wired with a positivity and optimism that knew no bounds, always exhibiting a deep sense of gratitude for the gifts that life gave him.
His cherished family and friends; a creative tribe he unearthed in Melbourne; and a skill for drawing cartoons for the streets of Melbourne – these were the gifts that brought Sime joy, in spades.
Others would say Sime was the gift. Whether he was taking nieces and nephews on tours of Melbourne’s colourful laneways to talk about street art or embellishing those same laneways with his own humourous cartoons to spark joy for others, it was evident Sime was a giver.
When Sime died suddenly last year, the news shook all who knew him, deeply, not least of all his beloved brother, Paul.
“Everyone loved Sime’s perspective on life,” says Paul. “He was a bit of a free spirit, he was funny, and he was always generous with his time. He modelled goodness for everyone.”
After the Bourke Street tragedy in 2017, Sime decorated some of the bollards, and the city, with his ‘Love Beats Fear’ cartoon.
“He tried to encourage people to keep loving, rather than be fearful. He was always trying to encourage kindness,” Paul says.
Only a few months before Sime died, Paul remembers a chance conversation they had; one that didn’t seem particularly important at the time.
“He mentioned to me that should anything happen to him, he’d made plans to donate his organs,” says Paul.
“I remembered that conversation when we were sitting in hospital. Amongst the shock and the grief, there was a sense of relief talking to the Intensive Care physicians and being able to say, ‘we had that conversation – he definitely said he wanted to be an organ donor’.”
“As a family, we were in no doubt about what Sime would have wanted. It was something that we agreed to because it was Sime’s desire for that to happen.”
As an organ and tissue donor, Sime gave someone a second chance at life through liver donation. Sime’s corneas gave sight to two people. His sclera tissue (the whites around the eye) helped others suffering with eye disease and eye trauma.
“We are all incredibly proud of Sime,” says Paul.
“He was always thinking of others and his decision, and the outcome, is testament to that. He has left our family and the community with many legacies. He is so dearly missed and thankfully, impossible to forget.”
It took Sime 1 minute to register. He gave others a lifetime.
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