Photo: Supplied.
BY BELINDA CHILTON, DONATELIFE QUEENSLAND
Wynnum resident and mum of a young liver recipient, Tarra Stevens, is calling on the local community to get behind this year’s DonateLife Week campaign and help save the lives of those on the transplant waitlist.
Tarra knows only too well how life-changing organ and tissue donation is to those in need.
The mum of little Levi, who is now three years post-liver transplant, is so thankful for Levi’s new liver that she’s been out pounding the pavement and has signed up around ten coffee shops to participate in DonateLife’s Register in two sips campaign.
The campaign aims to spread the organ and tissue donation message through biodegradable stickers on local café takeaway cups throughout Australia.
“Without a new liver, Levi wouldn’t be here today,” Tarra said. “His donor and donor family made the decision to donate their loved one’s organs that saved my son’s life.
“The doctors tried everything they could to control Levi’s genetic disorder, but a transplant was the only solution for him to be able to live.”
There are currently 1,750 Australians waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, with more than 13,000 Aussies on dialysis who may one day benefit from a kidney transplant.
“It’s important for people to register to be organ and tissue donors because there are numerous people currently on the transplant waiting list, and organ and tissue donation can save and change multiple lives,” Tarra said. “You can be a real-life hero.”
You can join the “Register in two sips” campaign by emailing your coffee shop name and the number of stickers you would need for seven days’ worth of takeaway coffee to [email protected].
If you haven’t yet registered as an organ and tissue donor, it only takes one minute through donatelife.gov.au, your MyGov account, or the Medicare Express Plus app.
