Donors give second chance at life

One Saturday afternoon eight years ago a driver took her eyes off the road for six seconds, forever changing the lives of a handful of people.

For the family of former Linton soldier Jared Selby, the day a car ploughed into him and his girlfriend as they were walking on a Hamilton footpath was an unimaginable tragedy.

But for the people who received his organs it was a second chance at life and a small comfort for those he left behind that something good was able to come of it.

Mr Selby and his girlfriend Johanna O'Connor were both severly injured, and rushed to the intensive care unit at Waikato Hospital.

When Ms O'Connor came out of her drug-induced coma it was to be told that life support for her partner of 18 months had been switched off, and the army engineer - only 22, but a veteran of two tours in East Timor - was dead.

Mr Selby's sister Melanie said it was the worst time in their lives.

"When my parents arrived at Waikato ICU they were greeted by medical staff there, who basically told them to pray for a miracle. Unfortunately Jared's head had gone through the windscreen of the car so he sustained such severe brain injuries that he went on to become brain dead, and so mum and dad were approached about organ donation."

Ms Selby said it wasn't something they had discussed as a family but because her brother was a donor on his driver's licence, they decided to do what he wished.

Mr Selby donated his heart, liver, kidneys and corneas to different recipients.

Ms Selby, who now works for Organ Donation New Zealand, said it was a positive thing to come out of an awful situation. Last year 108 organ transplant operations were carried out in New Zealand with 41 deceased donors.

Just this year, a 14-year-old boy from the MidCentral district received a new heart.

The figures have been trending upwards for the past 10 years but despite this there are still more than 750 people on the waiting list to receive various organs.

Organ Donation New Zealand donor co-ordinator Janice Langlands said there was always a demand but only a very small percentage of people were actually eligible to donate.

She said it was vital the blood was still being pumped to the organs right up until they were removed so organ donation could only happen if a person was on a ventilator and had fatal brain damage. Less that 1 per cent of all deaths happened this way.

Although about 48 per cent of New Zealanders indicated on their driver's licences they would like to donate organs, family were also asked for their agreement.

By Stacey Kirk - the Manawatu Standard