Cade Lucas
Werribee man Casey Dejong, 45, was living a normal life until a shock diagnosis of kidney failure in 2017 turned everything upside-down.
“I didn’t even know what a kidney was let alone what it does,” said Mr Dejong, who unsurprisingly, didn’t know much about kidney failure or what can cause it, either.
“I was smoking and drinking and all that sort of party going sort of stuff,” he said.
“Now I’ve gone through my own journey, I know a lot more now and I want to get the message out to other people to be aware of their health.”
Mr Dejong was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, a progressive kidney disease that destroys kidney function. As his health deteriorated, he was placed on the transplant waitlist, only surviving by being hooked up to a dialysis machine for nine hours a day, for two and a half years.
It was a difficult and lonely journey for Mr Dejong who is single and had only his doctors for support.
“I guess I was all over the place,” he recalled.
“I didn’t know what my future was. Previous to it, I had goals of what I wanted to do and when I got diagnosed with kidney failure it all just went blank. I had to restart my whole life again.”
That starting point arrived last year when a matched kidney became available for Mr Dejong, thanks to a donor and the donor’s family, who made the decision to donate their loved one’s organs.
After having his kidney transplant at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and he hasn’t looked back.
“I’m a year out and for about six months now I’ve felt back to normal,” said Mr Dejong who has hist all his medical milestones, returned to full-time work as a forklift operator and in his spare time dotes on dotes on his four pet lorikeets.
He’s even explored the possibility of becoming an organ donor himself.
“I’m looking into it but because of the medication I’m on, it lowers my immune system so they might not accept them,” Mr Dejong said.
“If I can, I’ll be one of the many people to register.”
In the lead up to DonateLife Week – Australia’s main national awareness raising week for organ and tissue donation – Mr Dejong is urging others to register to become organ donors too.
“Become an organ donor, it will save a life and also change their life for the better. It’s the other side of things as well” he said.
According to DonateLife, four in five Australians say they support donation, but only one in three are registered to be a donor on the Australian Organ Donor Register (AODR).
One organ donor can save the lives of up to seven people and help many more through eye and tissue donation.
About 1800 Australians are on the organ transplant waitlist and 14,000 on dialysis for kidney failure, just as Mr Dejong was before his organ donor came forward.
It’s an act of generosity he’ll never forget.
“I’m forever grateful for what they’ve done, giving me a new life.”
DonateLife Week runs from July 28 to August 4.
Details: www.donatelife.gov.au/
