The Daylesford resident underwent a kidney transplant in March 2012, almost three years to the day after first going on dialysis to keep him alive following total kidney failure.

Mr Primmer said he went to work one morning in late 2008 feeling a little off and by that afternoon, he was in Ballarat hospital being given the life-changing diagnosis.

He does not remember much of the following two weeks - his condition was so bad that some friends said their final goodbyes.

It turned out the organ failure was the result of a build-up of calcium in his bladder, which had caused infections that ruined his kidneys.

As a result Mr Primmer had to go on dialysis for four hours a day, three days a week for three years, until he received the fateful phone call at 2am one night telling him a suitable kidney had been found.

“I consider myself pretty lucky to have gotten through this,” Mr Primmer said.

“I think a lot of it is because of my spirit and wanting to stay alive.”

Last year, Mr Primmer was invited to share his story at a remembrance service in Melbourne for donors’ families and recipients.

Afterwards, a man came up to him and told him it was his wife’s kidney he had received, then gave him a hug before disappearing into the crowd.

“It was pretty amazing,” Mr Primmer said.

He received a letter from the man a few weeks later, telling him it was good to meet and to know parts of his wife were with him.

Mr Primmer does think some of his donor’s personality might be living on through him – he has become a more emotional person since the transplant, something he finds “incredible”, and even likes food he did not particularly enjoy before.

He said he had also become much more involved in volunteer work and had a lot more energy after his life-giving operation.

Mr Primmer now volunteers four mornings a week for Hepburn Community Radio, hosts a weekly show for Bendigo’s Phoenix FM, and also donates his time to Daylesford’s cinema.

This week marks DonateLife Week, which is devoted to encouraging people to register as an organ donor and talk about their wishes with their loved ones.

Ninety-one per cent of families agree to donation when the deceased is a registered donor, a figure that drops to 52 per cent when the person is not registered and the family has no prior knowledge.

Only one in three people have joined the Australian Organ Donor Register, even though research suggests 81 per cent of people believe registration of donation wishes is important.

Meanwhile, more than 1500 people in Australia are waiting for a transplant.

Visit the DonateLife website for more information.