Supporting Jersey Day

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4 min. read

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HopgoodGanim Lawyers proudly supports Jersey Day each year. In this blog, Partner Paul Betros, explains why this cause is so important. 

Today is Jersey Day. It’s a bit like “talk like a pirate day” where everyone is expected to channel the Sopranos and deliver forth in their best New Joisy accent.

Well, not quite. It’s actually an initiative of Donate Life Australia that’s intended to raise awareness for the noble and venerable cause of organ donation.

You can read all about what’s involved on the official site.

I am a strong supporter of Jersey Day, and use it as an opportunity to shamelessly raise funds for The Common Good research arm of the Prince Charles Hospital. The short version of the story is this. 

  • In 2011, I was unfortunate enough to suffer advanced heart failure from virally-induced pneumonia.
  • That led to a series of even less fortunate events including nine months in the Prince Charles Hospital, a month long coma, an artificial heart pump and several very near death experiences.
  • Despite that, they managed to get me to speak, eat, move, and walk again. I was able to be kept alive due to four bouts of the last rites and a little help from 24/7 world class health care by some of the best medical people on the planet.
  • Finally, in May 2012, the family of a dying man in a Brisbane hospital made the profoundly unselfish decision that they would donate his organs to those who needed them most and the powers that be decided I was in line to receive the man’s heart. 

It wasn’t actually a heart transplant, as such. Because I am a litigation lawyer, the correct name for the procedure is heart insertion. The joke never gets old - only the teller.

After that, things went from Leroy Brown bad to Johnny B good. The heart was a great match, I recovered quickly and I got my life back. 

A big part of the recovery process involved getting back to work. I needed to get back doing the thing I love with the people I love. My family and I received tremendous support from the good people of HopgoodGanim whilst in hospital and on the rebound. I will be forever grateful for that. And in a few months, that donated heart will mark ten years of good service in another man’s body. 

The men and women at the Common Good undertake cutting edge research that takes medical science forward in many heart-related areas, including organ donation and the means of keeping patients alive whilst they wait. During my time in hospital, the doctors would take the time to have idiot level conversations with me about the type of work they were doing and once even showed me a prototype of an artificial heart they were testing in sheep. It was inspirational and humbling stuff. The guys up at Chermside are the true professionals. 

It’s easily to say that getting an organ donation is life-changing. But it’s so much more than that. It’s taking a patient from certain death back to living a normal life for many years. That’s Lazarus level miraculous. It really is.

It’s easy to get fatigued with all of these special days that are thrust upon us. Although, I did quite enjoy International Chimney Sweeps Appreciation Day. But please use the occasion of Jersey Day to take a couple of minutes to do at least some of these little things, in no particular order:

  • put on a sporting jersey, to show you are on the team;
  • have a conversation with your family about organ donation and make it clear that your spare parts are good to go even if you reach the point whereby you are not; 
  • sign the on-line register so that everyone knows that when the time comes; or
  • make a small donation to the Common Good to support their special work.

Thanks for your continued support. Enjoy the day and please treat it as the celebration of life that it is.
 

|By Paul Betros

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