Thank You Day, held on Sunday 18th November
2018, is an opportunity for the New Zealand
community to say ‘thank you’ to all the individuals,
both living donors and deceased, and donor
families who have agreed to organ and tissue
donation. The day is also an opportunity for
transplant recipients to say thanks to the medical
professionals, friends, family and often community
who have supported them on their transplantation
journey.
Saying
thanks
for the gift
of life
People of all ages need organ and tissue
transplants, a transplant can mean the difference
between life and death, being immobile or
physically active, needing care themselves or being
able to take care of their families, being blind or
being able to see.
This Thank You Day ODNZ has created a video
showing just how life-changing organ transplants
are for the people who receive them. Among
the recipients featured in the video is local
Marlborough resident and double lung transplant
recipient Lisa Erikson.
Lisa shares her transplant experience.
How a shared decision by
a complete stranger, in a single
moment, saved my life.
"When I received the call a sense of peace came
over me, something was telling me that everything
was going to be all right. Then all I could think of
was the family of my donor and the courageous,
selfless decision they had just made at a time of
such loss and devastation. Words cannot describe
the level of eternal gratitude I will always have for
this life saving gift”
In 2013 I underwent a bilateral lung transplant. I
received a gorgeous, healthy, new set of lungs to
replace those that had been slowly deteriorating
for over three years. The surgery saved my life.
Each year the lives of
many New Zealanders are
saved and transformed
through the generosity of
organ and tissue donors
and their families.
Photo: David James Photography
I suffered from an extremely rare condition called
Pulmonary Veno Occlusive Disease (PVOD),
characterised by narrowing of the pulmonary
veins. The final diagnosis of PVOD wasn’t able to
be made until after my transplant and in the years
leading up to the event, I was treated for Idiopathic
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) and all the
physical symptoms that accompany this incurable
condition.
So why and how did any of this happen?
I was relatively healthy all my life, it may have
been the result of a childhood illness but there
is a possibility that we will never know…
We make a living with
what we get, we make
a life with what we give.
Debbie Webster
03 578 3760 • 021 797 454 • [email protected]
0800 500 123 • www.mikepero.com
Mike Pero Real Estate Ltd Licensed REAA (2008)