This week we’re shining a spotlight on eye and tissue donation. We’ll be sharing some facts and stats, busting some myths and showcasing some beautiful stories.
In 2022, there were 1,477 generous Aussies who gifted their eyes and 276 who gifted their tissue. There were also 2,340 Aussies who received life-changing corneal transplants, gifting them sight and a further 7,407 who received a tissue transplant.
This week you’ll meet many grateful eye and tissue recipients as well as get to know the stories behind some of our generous donors.
Don is one of those generous donors. Don made sure his family knew he wanted to be an organ and/or tissue donor. When cancer took hold, he constantly told his family of his wishes, making them very proud he was able to donate his eyes and gift sight to others.
One of our grateful recipients is young Madison and her family. Madison needed a life-saving aortic arch transplant, enabling blood to flow freely to her heart. Madison’s life hung in the balance, but a generous tissue donor changed the course of her life. The now 6-year-old enjoys gymnastics and doing her best to keep up with her twin sister.
It’s very rare to be able to donate organs, yet many more can become eye and tissue donors as death doesn’t need to occur in a hospital.
Tissue donation saves and transforms lives in many ways including saving burns victims, restoring sight, repairing heart defects in babies and adults, rebuilding tendons and reconstructing bones.
If you have a story about how your life was saved or changed by eye or tissue donation, or if your family member was an eye or tissue donor, we’d love to hear from you. Please head to our donation stories and let us know how donation impacted you.
Thank you to everyone who has so far contributed to our spotlight week, it’s important we have these conversations about eye and tissue donation and encourage others to register and tell their family.
