When Kelly Turley got the news her donated pancreas and kidney had finally arrived a year ago this week, her husband nearly turned them down by mistake.
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“I'm walking out the door, running late for fire brigade training, got in the car and the phone rang and it was a private number,” Jason Turley said.
Initially reluctant to answer the phone, expecting yet another cold-calling salesperson, Mr Turley nearly hung up on one of the most important calls of his life.
“’Mr Turley?’”
“Yes?”
“’I have something for...’”
“Mate I’m not interested.”
“’No, Mr Turley...’”
“Nope, I’m not interested!”
“I was about to tell him to POQ and he said 'no, no, no, I have organs' and I said 'what did you say?’, he said ‘your wife, transplant, organs’,” Mr Turley said.
“I ran back inside and said ‘I think you better take this’”.
One year later, Mrs Turley has made a full recovery, and despite initially being told she’d never walk again, and also suffering from multiple sclerosis and the side effects of the anti-rejection medication, she is able to walk with the aid of a cane and no longer has to endure painful daily dialysis treatments.
Now, she says she plans to write to the family of the organ donor who had to lose their life to change hers.
“Just to say ‘thank you’ because I can't say I wouldn't be here, but I'd still be hooked up to a machine,” she said.
“What [they have] lost for me to gain what I’ve gained to me is invaluable, you can't put a value on it.”
While Mrs Turley must still undergo regular testing and take large quantities of medication, the couple say their lives have improved immeasurably.
“You might take heaps of tablets which you hate but you're not hooked up to a damn machine every night,” Mr Turley said.
“Life is a lot better.”
And while Mrs Turley hopes her story will encourage others to sign up as organ donors, she says everyone’s individual choice should be respected.
“We know a person that wants to donate three quarters of his organs, but not his eyes, he’d rather get buried with his eyes and I’ve got nothing against that,” she said.
“If people want to donate their organs I'm all for that, if they don’t I'm all for that too, everyone has the choice as to what they want to do.”
But the Turleys stressed the importance of making sure your family knows your wishes when it comes to organ donation as they will always be asked to confirm the donation decision before organ or tissue transplantation can proceed.
For more information and to learn how to join the organ donor register visit www.donatelife.gov.au