ALISON Hogarth is a saviour.
She not only saved her husband, Mark, from the sadness of his brother's suicide more than 10 years ago, she saved the lives of four strangers in death by being a registered organ donor.
Ali succumbed to a brain haemorrhage at her Norwood home last November.
In just over six hours, she was dead.
Ali was 32 years old and the mother of two young children, James, aged three at the time, and Stella, 1.
Mr Hogarth struggles to adapt to life without his wife three months after the young family's loss.
``It's even more upsetting because the kids won't remember their mum and she loved them so much,'' he said.
``I've explained to James what has happened to mum but Stella still expects to see mum from time to time, saying that she misses her.
``They've helped me get through. I don't know where I'd be without them.''
Mr Hogarth first met Ali at a Launceston bar during a low point in his life.
``I was in the air force for five years and moved back (to Launceston) in 2001 after my brother committed suicide,'' he said.
``I was out on the town three or four nights a week, not taking (his death) well for a few months.
``Then, Ali came along and things got much better from there.
``We eventually bought a little house, got married, and had James, who came nine months after our wedding night.''
Mr Hogarth said his wife showed few signs of health problems until the night she died.
``She was fine, healthy and happy then all of a sudden at home one night, she had a brain haemorrhage,'' Mr Hogarth said.
``She called out from the kitchen and I found her hanging onto the fridge, her legs had stopped working.
``It was very quick. By the time I carried her to the lounge room, 10 metres away, she was unconscious and struggling to breathe.''
Ali went into cardiac arrest soon after the ambulance arrived.
Paramedics were able to revive her heart before she reached the Launceston General Hospital.
It was there that Mr Hogarth and family members were informed of Ali's life-threatening condition.
It was a second bleed suffered during a flight to the Royal Hobart Hospital that gave her no chance of recovery.
As his beautiful wife lay brain dead in a hospital bed, the question of organ donation was raised with Mr Hogarth and the rest of her family.
``It was a terrible time to be asked but they had to do it,'' Mr Hogarth said.
``It's terrible because once you've made that decision, there is no miracle waiting and there is no coming back.
``I felt like I was giving up on her and the kids _ that's why it was so hard to make the call.''
Within days of her own death, Ali had saved four lives.
Mr Hogarth said a father of a young family would have been dead within days had he not received a liver and pancreas transplant.
One young girl received a set of lungs and a middle-aged woman received a kidney.
A second kidney recipient, a middle-aged man, was able to be removed from dialysis after 10 years.
``It gives you a degree of comfort to know that there are four people out there that are alive right now that probably wouldn't have been,'' Mr Hogarth said.
``They all have families and the timing of the donations meant most of them were able to go home for Christmas.''
From his own experience, Mr Hogarth encouraged people to both consider becoming an organ donor and talk about their decision with their closest family.
DonateLife Week will be marked from Sunday, February 19, encouraging people nationwide to consider joining the organ donation registry.
To find out how to register as an organ donor, visit www.donatelife.gov.au.
Email a friend