Northern Rivers resident Camilla Jenal became a heart transplant recipient on November 25th 2012 and this week – DonateLife Week - you will see her smiling face on 3 buses around town.

Nine public buses across Northern NSW will once again be promoting organ and tissue donation this DonateLife Week, in a bid to prompt locals to register on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

This year, DonateLife celebrates its 10th annual DonateLife Week - a national public awareness initiative that encourages all Australians to register as organ and tissue donors.

The bus artwork asks people to join the Great Registration Race, which is the theme for this year’s DonateLife Week.

There are around 13 million Australians aged 16+ who are eligible to register as an organ and tissue donor – but haven’t. For ‘The Great Registration Race for DonateLife Week’ the goal is to encourage up to 100,000 more Australians to join the Australian Organ Donor Register.

Ms Jenal told the Lismore App that her illness inspired her to change her profession from journalism to nursing.

“I became a nurse when I first got sick because I couldn’t understand all the medical terminology.”

Camilla explained that after the birth of her last daughter in 2001, it was discovered she had a dangerous heart condition. She was able to go about her life with some restrictions for several years but then her health crashed mid 2012. At the time she knew something wasn’t right and asked her husband to take her Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane to check her out. Within half an hour she went into organ failure and a coma.

“They turned off my life support in the end. My family were called, the priest came. I was going to actually be a donor myself. And I woke and I had a tracheostomy in and I knew my daughter’s birthday was approaching and I mouthed – I didn’t have a voice – how long til my daughter’s birthday and they said 8 days…and I just said keep me alive til then. I didn’t want to ruin her birthday.”

Camilla went on to explain that that was a turning point and she eventually became well enough to go to theatre and have an LVAD – left ventricular assist device.

An LVAD is a mechanical pump that is implanted inside a person's chest to help a weakened heart pump blood. Unlike a total artificial heart, the LVAD doesn't replace the heart. It just helps it do its job. This can mean the difference between life and death for a person whose heart needs a rest after open-heart surgery or for people waiting for a heart transplant. LVADs are often called a "bridge to transplant." Camilla required 24 hour care whilst the LVAD was in use.

Camilla Jenal and Doctor Mike Lindley Jones

Dr Mike Lindley Jones, Donation Specialist in the area was also present for today’s bus launch of DonateLife Week and explained that an LVAD “relies on the battery not running out..and if the battery does run out there’s a hand pump you can put on and actually squeeze it. Obviously I don’t think the patient could do that.”

He added “I have to be honest I’ve never met anyone who has gone five months on an LVAD and is still around.”

Ms Jenal was one of the first ever patients to be discharged with an LVAD.

Camilla added “that gave me the strength to start rehab and I got on the list on 31st July. I eventually got out on the 1st November because it was my eldest daughter’s year 12 formal and I said I’m going. So I went to that and three weeks later I got the call.”

Camilla hopes that the campaign will encourage locals to head to the DonateLife website to register, and prompt conversations about organ and tissue donation with their family and friends.

“I think a lot of people do find it difficult but it’s just so important, it’s just one of those chats – if you can have it, it makes all the difference.” Camilla added.

Camilla has lived on to see her children grow up, she has returned to nursing part time and is also caring for her 96 year old mum.

Camilla has published a book that documents her recipient story

DonateLife volunteer Leanne Rice has also been involved with the local campaign and said her son Sean was featured on a local bus two years ago. Leanne’s 15 year old son received a double lung transplant when he was just 9 years old.

Leanne explained that recent border closures have added further difficulties to her son’s complex medical needs.

“We’re due to go to Brisbane on Wednesday for a test and it’s just going to be so hard to get there so we’re going to cancel that and hopefully get the test done at Tweed Hospital instead. I think the latest is we can get there (across border) but when your child has a lot of nausea, sitting in traffic for hours on end…I’d rather just go to our local and hope the doctors will liaise with our specialists in Brisbane.” Ms Rice explained.

Leanne works as a volunteer for the organisation in both QLD and NSW and tries to raise awareness any way she possibly can by talking to community groups.

DonateLife are racing towards 100,000 registrations, following a drop in new registrations last year as a result of the pandemic.

Australia recorded a 16% decrease in the number of new donor registrations compared with 2019, partly due to the cancellation of awareness-raising events across the country.

With only 1 in 3 Aussies currently registered, and 1,800 Australians waiting for a life-saving transplant, it’s never been more important to register.

With many people still under the assumption that you can register as a donor via the NSW driver’s licence, it’s crucial that people head to donatelife.gov.au and check if they’re registered. It only takes one minute with your Medicare card.

Buses participating in the campaign are located across the Tweed region, Lismore area and Grafton to kick-start DonateLife Week which runs from 25th July – 1st August 2021.