An event I attended with my senior school friends when I was 16 has the potential to be life-changing.
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During my school days in the ACT the awareness campaign for organ donors meant senior students in the nation's capital would gather in the very early hours of the morning at Lake Burley Griffin to walk the 5km course.
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It was my first year attending the event when I was told I could save lives by registering to become a donor.
I registered that day. I was 16.
It takes one minute to become an organ donor to save lives.
Each year the organisation, Donate Life holds events around the country to start a conversation about registering as an organ donor.
The campaign has encouraged people all around the country.
Goulburn resident Juanita Strachan said that she has been a donor since it was able to be shown on a driver's licence.
Another member of the community, Vesper said that she signed up purely because she felt it was the right thing to do.
While the majority of the population is on board with the concept of becoming an organ donor, only about one third is registered.
Meanwhile, thousands of people are waiting to receive life saving surgery and can be on the waitlist for months. In fact, there are about 1800 Australians waitlisted for a transplant and about 14,000 additional people on dialysis - some of whom may need a kidney transplant.
It's only through registering that we, as a society, can make a difference, shorten that wait time and potentially save lives.
According to the DonateLife website, 454 people registered to become organ donors in 2022 bringing the amount of people donating to around 36 per cent of the country's population.
It's not just one life that can be saved by donating, up to seven lives could be saved by a single donor.
The importance of telling your loved ones that you choose to be a donor equally important.
When you register to become a donor in NSW it comes up on your driver's licence. However, if your loved ones have not been informed of the decision they can overturn your wishes.
Registering to become an organ donor takes all of one minute through the Donate Life website and it's a minute that could potentially help so many people in the future.
It is a simple task anyone over the age of 16 can do and the results can be life-changing for so many - maybe even you or one of your loved ones.
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