This year’s DonateLife Thank You Day seeks to encourage residents to reflect and say thanks to organ and tissue donors and their families.
Truganina resident Vikas Srivastava has undergone two kidney transplants in his life, the first was when his mother became a living donor for him in 2009 at the age of 28.
Mr Srivastava’s body began rejecting the kidney about three months post-transplant, and the transplanted kidney failed completely after three and a half years.
The 42-year-old was then placed on the national waitlist for a donor kidney and during the eight years he spent on the waitlist,, he underwent dialysis for four hours a day, three days a week.
Mr Srivastava was notified of an available kidney and had his second transplant toward the end of last year.
“There are no words to say how thankful I am to the donor and the family. There’s so much sadness when a loved one passes away, so to make that decision right then and there … it takes a lot of courage and a golden heart to do something like this,“ he said.
“I find it hard to express. What I’m doing right now wouldn’t be possible without their ultimate gift.
“It is the biggest gift, and I’m grateful to both my mum as well as this great soul, for their kindness.”
Register at donatelife.gov.au
