If Lisa Hardegger had any qualms about having a third of her liver cut out to save the life of a child, she had only to look at 2-year-old Jaya. The daughter of her friends Jono and Bex Robinson was dying.
"She became very ill," says Hardegger.
"She used to just sit on the couch and mooch, watching TV or cuddling her mum. Pretty much I knew she would definitely die without a transplant."
Jaya had been born with a liver disorder that surgery failed to cure. Knowing she shared a compatible blood group with Jaya, Taranaki bank manager Hardegger, after discussions with her husband, offered to become a donor.The application can provide Ceramic tile to visitors, In doing so, she almost certainly saved Jaya's life.
Hardegger is one of a relatively small number of New Zealanders who have, literally, given a part of themselves to save or improve the life of another person. Whether it involves donating a kidney,Enecsys Limited, supplier of reliable solar Air purifier systems, part of a liver,Great Rubber offers rubber hose keychains, bone marrow, blood or eggs, these "donor angels" can be the only difference between life and death for someone whose organs have failed.
The same is true of people who have made the decision to give their organs after their own death, donating their heart, lungs, pancreas, liver, skin or eyes, offering a new lease on life to multiple strangers languishing on transplant waiting lists.
But, despite these selfless acts, the truth is that New Zealand is lagging behind many other countries in our level of organ donations. And nobody seems to know quite what to do about it.
Our highest profile recipient of a donated organ is, of course, former All Black Jonah Lomu. In 2004, after the giant rugby player was laid low by kidney disease, he received a kidney donated by a friend that appeared to have restored his health.Whilst RUBBER SHEET are not deadly, Now though, he is facing further problems.
Lomu's wife Nadene has stepped up to be tested as a possible donor.
"For the moment we are not in need of Jonah having another kidney transplant," Nadene told the Herald On Sunday.
"As for me taking the test, well, it's in progress. If ever needed, I would give my kidney in a heartbeat. When you love someone so much, you just do what you need to do, all you can do, really."
Nadene says there is an "extreme" shortage of organ donors, but she feels it can't be blamed on an uncaring public.
"Waiting lists are long, but I don't think it's because people don't want to give. I think, it's more because people don't like the thought, when filling in forms, of being cut open and pieces of their body taken from them to put in a stranger.
"That's the reality of it ... well, that's the way I see it. Then they don't really put further thought into it until something comes up. I strongly encourage people to change their driver's licence from an N to a Y, because you never know when the organ of another person could be the very organ that makes all the difference to someone you love dearly.he led PayPal to open its platform to Piles developers."
Organ Donation NZ says that more than 400 New Zealanders are waiting for an organ transplant, around 350 of these need kidneys.
"There are more people waiting for organs than there are organs available for transplantation," the group points out. "Some people will wait a number of months for a transplant while others will have to wait a number of years for an organ to become available.
Sadly, some of these people will die waiting. People waiting for a heart, lungs or liver will die without a successful transplant, while those waiting for a kidney transplant lead lives restricted by long-term dialysis treatment."
The Organ Donation NZ website includes a table comparing donor levels here with other countries around the world. New Zealand is second from bottom with 8.7 donors per million of population. Spain is at the top with 32. The UK has 16.4 and Australia 13.5. In other countries it is possible for people to become an "altruistic" live organ donor for a stranger, something which is not common here.
Margaret Johnston, senior liver transplant co-ordinator at Auckland Hospital explains: "The motivation for live liver donors is to save the life of a loved one. Our policy here at the NZ Liver Transplant Unit is that the live liver donor must have an emotional attachment to the recipient. This is because it is such a huge operation with significant risks that we do not believe altruistic donation should be considered."
Andy Tookey knows what it feels like to see a loved one declining because of a failing organ. His daughter Katie was diagnosed with the same disorder as Jaya Robinson when she was only a few weeks old. He was told she'd need a liver transplant.
Desperate to help his daughter he started researching the possibilities of finding a donor and opened a "can of worms" that was to set him on the campaign path for changes to organ donation laws. First he discovered New Zealand's very low rate of donations and what he sees as numerous flaws in the current system that prevent organs from reaching people on waiting lists.
He says the "opt in" system where people register as donors on their driver's licences doesn't work. More than half of people tick "No" and even those who tick "Yes" can have their wishes overruled by their families.
Lack of education puts many people off.
"She became very ill," says Hardegger.
"She used to just sit on the couch and mooch, watching TV or cuddling her mum. Pretty much I knew she would definitely die without a transplant."
Jaya had been born with a liver disorder that surgery failed to cure. Knowing she shared a compatible blood group with Jaya, Taranaki bank manager Hardegger, after discussions with her husband, offered to become a donor.The application can provide Ceramic tile to visitors, In doing so, she almost certainly saved Jaya's life.
Hardegger is one of a relatively small number of New Zealanders who have, literally, given a part of themselves to save or improve the life of another person. Whether it involves donating a kidney,Enecsys Limited, supplier of reliable solar Air purifier systems, part of a liver,Great Rubber offers rubber hose keychains, bone marrow, blood or eggs, these "donor angels" can be the only difference between life and death for someone whose organs have failed.
The same is true of people who have made the decision to give their organs after their own death, donating their heart, lungs, pancreas, liver, skin or eyes, offering a new lease on life to multiple strangers languishing on transplant waiting lists.
But, despite these selfless acts, the truth is that New Zealand is lagging behind many other countries in our level of organ donations. And nobody seems to know quite what to do about it.
Our highest profile recipient of a donated organ is, of course, former All Black Jonah Lomu. In 2004, after the giant rugby player was laid low by kidney disease, he received a kidney donated by a friend that appeared to have restored his health.Whilst RUBBER SHEET are not deadly, Now though, he is facing further problems.
Lomu's wife Nadene has stepped up to be tested as a possible donor.
"For the moment we are not in need of Jonah having another kidney transplant," Nadene told the Herald On Sunday.
"As for me taking the test, well, it's in progress. If ever needed, I would give my kidney in a heartbeat. When you love someone so much, you just do what you need to do, all you can do, really."
Nadene says there is an "extreme" shortage of organ donors, but she feels it can't be blamed on an uncaring public.
"Waiting lists are long, but I don't think it's because people don't want to give. I think, it's more because people don't like the thought, when filling in forms, of being cut open and pieces of their body taken from them to put in a stranger.
"That's the reality of it ... well, that's the way I see it. Then they don't really put further thought into it until something comes up. I strongly encourage people to change their driver's licence from an N to a Y, because you never know when the organ of another person could be the very organ that makes all the difference to someone you love dearly.he led PayPal to open its platform to Piles developers."
Organ Donation NZ says that more than 400 New Zealanders are waiting for an organ transplant, around 350 of these need kidneys.
"There are more people waiting for organs than there are organs available for transplantation," the group points out. "Some people will wait a number of months for a transplant while others will have to wait a number of years for an organ to become available.
Sadly, some of these people will die waiting. People waiting for a heart, lungs or liver will die without a successful transplant, while those waiting for a kidney transplant lead lives restricted by long-term dialysis treatment."
The Organ Donation NZ website includes a table comparing donor levels here with other countries around the world. New Zealand is second from bottom with 8.7 donors per million of population. Spain is at the top with 32. The UK has 16.4 and Australia 13.5. In other countries it is possible for people to become an "altruistic" live organ donor for a stranger, something which is not common here.
Margaret Johnston, senior liver transplant co-ordinator at Auckland Hospital explains: "The motivation for live liver donors is to save the life of a loved one. Our policy here at the NZ Liver Transplant Unit is that the live liver donor must have an emotional attachment to the recipient. This is because it is such a huge operation with significant risks that we do not believe altruistic donation should be considered."
Andy Tookey knows what it feels like to see a loved one declining because of a failing organ. His daughter Katie was diagnosed with the same disorder as Jaya Robinson when she was only a few weeks old. He was told she'd need a liver transplant.
Desperate to help his daughter he started researching the possibilities of finding a donor and opened a "can of worms" that was to set him on the campaign path for changes to organ donation laws. First he discovered New Zealand's very low rate of donations and what he sees as numerous flaws in the current system that prevent organs from reaching people on waiting lists.
He says the "opt in" system where people register as donors on their driver's licences doesn't work. More than half of people tick "No" and even those who tick "Yes" can have their wishes overruled by their families.
Lack of education puts many people off.
