The Ashburton Guardian (New)

The Ashburton Guardian (New)


Organ donation forum a first

By Erin Bishop
An organ donation forum being held in Ashburton in April is believed to be the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Ashburton Branch of the New Zealand Kidney Foundation president Lesley Glassey said the idea came to her one day when she spoke to a lady who had, some years ago, had a family member on life support and when asked about donating organs, the family declined.
She said she had felt guilty ever since.
But Mrs Glassey, whose son was the recipient of a liver transplant, said she should not feel guilty. The problem was a lack of education about organ donation in New Zealand.
So she approached Mid Canterbury’s Lions clubs with the idea of holding an organ donation forum and had been amazed with the amount of support she had received.
“If we can pull it off, Lions want to take it around the South Island,” she said.
The workshop, to be held on April 11, will be free for the public to attend and is about educating the public.
“It’s aimed at making people comfortable when they are in this horrible position when they have a member of their family on life support and they have to make a decision on organ donation,” she said.
“It’s so that they know what it’s about because they can often just hit a brick wall and it’s very emotive.”
A number of guest speakers have been secured for the forum including surgeons, two heart transplant recipients and the organ donation co-ordinator from Auckland, to cover every aspect of organ donation, including legal aspects.
Lions clubs around New Zealand have been long-time supporters of organ donation, Mrs Glassey said.
They built the liver transplant unit in Auckland, provided a house and paid for people to go to America to up-skill, including paying their salaries for two years.
She said a lack of education also attributed to there being only 25 cadaver donors in the country last year.
There are currently 400 people on waiting lists in New Zealand waiting for new kidneys and only 11 liver transplants were done in New Zealand in 2006.
The organ donation forum will be held on Friday, April 11, at the Ashburton College auditorium, at 7.30pm.
January 17 2008