It was like the circus had come to town.
Around fifty or so dazed people were wandering around the waiting room at the Westmead Children's hospital.
Their mission?
To lift the spirits of a very special girl.
With smiles plastered on their faces, they slept wherever they could, participated in large-scale coffee runs and most importantly, due to the 'five-visitors-at-a-time' rule, took shifts sitting in the room with that special girl.
It was like my very large extended family had set up the tent and all they needed now was the act. Trying to maintain a sense of hope, we believed it was just a matter of time before we could take her home again.
Despite feeling like the hospital visits were draining me emotionally and physically, I didn't want them to end. I didn't want the circus to leave town because while the circus was here, so was Rachel.
But one thing the circus couldn't perform was a miracle.
Science, medical research, organ donations—at the time I couldn’t have cared less for them. But they were all issues I had to face up to eventually. What my family experienced was certainly the human side to this debate.
Here’s the less humane side. Australia has one of the lowest organ donation rates among developed countries. There are almost 2000 people in Australia on organ transplant waiting lists at any given time. Some of them will die waiting. And yet Australia has one of the highest transplant success rates in the world. In some cases, one deceased person's organs can be used to save the life of up to ten people.
The way I see it, ten other families just like mine can live in hope again.
Sometimes we have to accept what’s beyond our control. Doctors can only go so far in the treatment of rare cases like that of my cousin Rachel. At four months, her parents were informed that she would not survive beyond the weekend. Seventeen years later, a feisty young girl proved them all wrong.
Before she went into surgery, Rachel lit two candles—one for her and one for the family of her liver donor. Before Rachel, no one in my family had ever considered donating their organs. Now everyone is ticking that box.
I don’t know if the family of Rachel’s liver donor were aware that she had lit that candle or that she had kept them in her prayers. Although it’s a situation no one ever wishes to be in, knowing that the heart of someone you love may be beating again and giving hope to a whole array of circus families is certainly worth it. Sometimes the operation isn’t successful—but it’s the part where the recipient is filled with hope that matters.
Rachel never made it past her 17th birthday—but she's the only known case to have survived so long with such a rare and untreatable illness. Her case is a double reminder of the importance of organ donation, not only to help the sufferer directly but also to be used for research and testing.
The circus has also gone. But what remains is even greater. An appreciation for the fragility of life and the chance to help others once we’re gone—because the truth is, when it comes to saving lives, everyone has something to give—even the clowns.
Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week starts on Sunday 18 February 2007.
Find out more about becoming a donor.
How do I know this?
The Age 2002, 'Organ donation',
Issues in the news,
http://www.education.theage.com.au/pagedetail.asp?intpageid=137&strsection=students&intsectionid=0
Better Health Channel 1999,
Organ donation,
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/...
Byrum, A 2006, Organ Donation,
ActNow
http://www.actnow.com.au/Issues/Organ_donation.aspx
Endo, K, 2006, ‘Embryonic Stem Cell Research’,
ActNow http://www.actnow.com.au/Issues/Embryonic_stem_cell_research...
Girl 2007,
Live Life, Give Life: Organ Donor Awareness Week,
http://www.girl.com.au/organ-donor-awareness-week.htm
