A woman recently got on a plane on the other side of the world and flew to Australia to save her sister’s life.

She would have looked like any other traveller that day – lining up to board the plane, passing the time with in-flight food and entertainment, stretching her legs in the aisle.

No one would have noticed the anonymous woman on the plane, not for business or leisure, but so she could be admitted to hospital and give one of her kidneys to her sister.

These are the moments I was thinking about when I was looking after her sister in ICU, the one with renal failure whose life had just been saved.

What a remarkable story of fierce love joining forces with modern medicine to save a life and keep a family together.

Everyday heroes really do go undetected when they could be sitting right next to you on a plane, or standing behind you at the checkout, or walking past you in the street.

For me, this was my first time looking after a patient receiving an organ from a living donor.

It usually costs a life to save a life, so it was really quite special to be part of this beautiful success story where everyone survived.

As ICU nurses, we inevitably look after both types of patients – the ones at the end of their lives who become organ donors, and the ones who have been saved through an organ transplant.

For all the knowledge and skill required to work in critical care, one of the hardest things we do is hold space for a family that has just learned their loved one is going to die and are grappling with the question of organ donation.

For some families, it’s too overwhelming to contemplate, but for others it’s the silver living of profound loss.

Either way, there’s no judgement from us and the decision is theirs to make, but in the midst of the shock, it does help to know what your loved one would have wanted.

This week is DonateLife Week and a reminder to register as an organ and tissue donor, if that’s your wish, and to have the conversation with loved ones.

One person’s decision to be an organ donor can save the lives of up to seven people and change the lives of many more through eye and tissue donation.

As ICU nurses, we look after patients before they go for organ donation surgery and it’s a highly complex clinical, ethical and legislative process.

Our first priority is always to save a person’s life, and organ donation is only considered once that is no longer possible.

After donation, we receive an email from our colleagues at DonateLife letting us know the outcome.

I always look forward to those emails and feel so happy and teary when it has been successful.

Sometimes multiple lives are saved and, without revealing confidential information, we are told a little about their stories and what it means to have been given a second chance at life.

It’s deeply moving to be in a job that’s so intrinsically tied to our collective humanity.

What a lot of people don’t realise about organ donation is that it’s harder to become a donor than you’d think.

Anyone over the age of 16 can register as an organ donor, but only 2% of Australians die in a way that makes it possible to donate their organs.

To be a donor, you need to die in hospital, usually on life support in ICU, and have organs that are working well and viable to be transplanted.

That’s why every potential donor is precious, but only 1 in 3 adults in Australia is registered as an organ donor.

Last year, 1438 Australians received a life-saving organ transplant, thanks to the generosity of 557 deceased organ donors. Another 230 people received a kidney from a living donor. Thousands more are on waiting lists.

Even if someone is a registered donor, the family is asked to provide consent and they are twice as likely to agree if they know it’s what their loved one wanted.

I will always remember the strength, dignity and kindness of grieving families who in their worst moments gave permission for organ donation.

I hope they too find comfort in knowing that their loved ones so generously saved the lives so many others.

To register as an organ or tissue donor, or check your status, visit Home | DonateLife

This is some information addressing common misconceptions about organ donation: Myths about donation | DonateLife