By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
FIVE years ago Martina Martinelli looked at her reflection and knew she was going to die.
“You know when someone is about to die and they have hollow eyes?” she asked.
“That’s how I was. I used to look in the mirror and knew I wasn’t going to make it.”
In 2009 the former Berwick resident had been diagnosed with a defective kidney that weakened to barely 5 per cent effectiveness.
Martina couldn’t climb one step in her house without needing to sit down.
While it seemed impossible because she had a different blood type, her husband Mark insisted that she take his kidney.
This led to the Irish-born Martina undergoing a progressive procedure known as cross match donation surgery, during which antibodies were taken out of her blood to make her as close a match to Mark’s blood as possible.
“They created an environment in which my body was a lot more receptiveness to Mark’s kidney,” Martina said.
Years later and with a renewed take on life, Martina is encouraging the Casey community to sign up as organ donors and get behind DonateLife Week, an event that is also supported by Narre Warre North MP Luke Donnellan and which kicks off this Sunday and runs until Sunday 2 March.
It plays a key role in increasing organ and tissue donation.
“Organ donation is something I really believe in, you can’t give anyone your organs once you’re gone,” Martina said.
“It’s crazy to die and take something away that someone else can use.
“The life it gives someone is amazing. I’ve been able to live in Dubai since my transplant, I’ve seen my children graduate and there’s no way I could’ve seen that otherwise.”
To this day, Martina is almost brought to tears when recalling what her husband did in order to save her life.
“Strangely enough I found a card I wrote to him the other day after the procedure. What do you say to someone who does that for you?” she said.
“I was the mother of his children, and his wife, and he was determined that the transplant was going to happen.”
last year 1122 Australians received an organ transplant from 391 organ donors, whose families agreed to donation at the time of their loved one’s death.
Fact sheets and more information on DonateLife Week can be found at www.donatelife.gov.au.
