A stranger saved the life of Longford resident Lyndon Tubb.
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Raised by his adopted family in Longford since birth, Mr Tubb was unaware of the genetic kidney disease which ran in his maternal mother’s family.
At age 37, Mr Tubb had started a new job in Hobart, and was working to relocate his young family from Melbourne, when he was diagnosed with Polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
People with PKD have faulty genes which cause abnormal blisters of fluid (cysts) to grow in the kidneys.
Mr Tubb had Peritoneal dialysis four times a day to filter waste products and fluid from his blood until Easter Sunday 1998 when he received a life changing voicemail from the Hobart renal clinic.
“I put my phone on charge at 9am, about 12.30pm I thought, ‘I better check it’, so I turned the phone on and it went beep beep,” Mr Tubb said.
“There was a message so I opened it and they said, ‘Mr Tubb this...the Hobart renal clinic, please get in touch with us, we need to speak to you urgently we have a kidney for you’, and I’ve gone ‘what’.”
A moment he still described as surreal, Mr Tubb ran outside to his wife at the time and jumped for joy at the news.
By 6.30pm that night he was being wheeled in for surgery at the Alfred Hospital, Victoria. Nearly 18 years later, Mr Tubb is alive and well thanks to an organ donor.
On average, kidney transplants survive between 10 to 12 years so Mr Tubb said he was extremely happy to be “eight years in credit” but he hoped to reach the 20 year milestone.
Mr Tubb was always physically active and lived a healthy lifestyle.
Since receiving his kidney donation he has continued to exercise, living by the saying “your health is your wealth”.
Donate Life executive officer Davin Hibberd said it was a great time to spread the word about becoming an organ donor and the importance of discussing the decision with family.
DonateLife Week runs from July 31 to August 7, Mr Hibberd said it was an opportunity for people to speak to their family about their decision to become a donor.
There were about 1500 people on the organ donor wait list at any given time.
Donate Life initiated the #endthewait campaign so people were able to show their support for organ and tissue donation by sharing their stories on social media.
There were many myths and misconceptions about organ donation.
Mr Hibberd said people should not assume they were too young, old or unhealthy to become a donor.
Most Australians felt it was important to register a donation decision, 81 per cent, but only 33 per cent were registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register.
Australians were no longer able to register as a donor with their driver's licence.
More information and registration could be found at www.donatelife.gov.au.