Mr Todd said he found out about his heart condition after suffering the worst flu he had ever had.

“As time rolled on, I had shorter breath. I wasn’t keeping up with my work colleagues,” he said.

“I was working in forestry down at Geeveston. I was 40 years old, and my 60-year-old boss could climb a mountain better than I could. I thought, something’s not right.

“After [my] wedding anniversary, I thought I had eaten too much and couldn’t sleep lying down. I felt like I was drowning.”

After that, Mr Todd went to the doctor.

“First they asked me if I was an athlete, which was a bit of a joke,” he said.

“Then they said – ‘you’ve got a big heart’. That meant nothing to me, but they said, ‘right, we need to send you off to a cardiologist right away’.

“My wife [Lorraine] and I went to the cardiologist. He said, you’ve got dilated cardiomyopathy, which means you’ve got an enlarged left ventricle and your heart cannot pump effectively. The only cure is to get a new one.

“Cardiomyopathy is based on your injection fraction, and that’s how much you pump out each heartbeat.

“An average person should be, I think, between 45 and 65 per cent. Mine would have been in the 30s, maybe high 20s.

“Then it was medication to manage it to start with, getting rid of the fluid that builds up, ease up on what I could do.”

Mr Todd said he did feel much better after slowing down and taking medication, however, his doctor said he would have to stop working.

“This was in January 1996. I hadn’t even turned 30 at that point.

“Over a period of time, I did get worse. I had to go down to four days a week [at work]. It was a matter of working towards retirement at the end of the year.

“It was a big shock. A very upsetting decision.”

After retiring, Mr Todd said he and his wife moved back to Launceston to be with their families.

“There wasn’t pressure at work, but it was having to get up every day to go to work. That in itself was tiring for my body,” he said.

“We had our son in 1998 and just being the house dad was certainly wonderful, but as he grew up it became a bit more of a challenge.

“Life became more difficult as time went on. [My health] slowly deteriorated.”

Mr Todd said he went back to see his cardiologist in 2005.

“I said right, I’ve really had enough. I can’t do this anymore, I should be on the list,” he said.

“He said, ‘I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that’.”

“I was put on the list in May, and got the transplant in October.”

Mr Todd said life was very stressful prior to the transplant.

“Prior to, and just before, I couldn’t even walk to the end of our street,” he said.

“I realised the flat area we bought in at Invermay wasn’t actually flat, but there was a slight slope. It was totally unnoticeable to most people, but it was almost a hill for me. I found it very difficult.

“There were times where I had enough energy to eat dinner, but not actually eat it.

“I was frightened of the night, and I didn’t sleep. I got very depressed. 

“It just wasn’t a pleasant experience. I knew that I wasn’t well, and that I was basically in the process of dying.

“There was a point where I was taking a small walk not far from out house, and a car had actually broken down at the traffic lights. 

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“A guy had called out and asked me to give him a hand to push the car, and I said no sorry, I can’t. 

“He wasn’t very happy with me at all. You get a bit of abuse, but they can’t see what’s going on.

“I also got abused for parking in disabled parking spots, even though I had the disabled parking ticket. Because I was young and I could walk.”

Mr Todd said his injection fraction was down to about 13 per cent prior to his transplant.

“I had a couple of admissions into hospital, then I went into the ICU and that was pretty much it for me,” he said.

“I had actually collapsed after taking our son to swimming practice. I think Lorraine actually kept me close because she wasn’t sure what was going to happen.

“Lochie was seven, and they do say that the funniest things come out of the mouths of babies. I leant forward and my head hit the dashboard on the passenger side.

“And, Lochie called out to Lorraine and said – ‘is dad dead?’

“I could hear it, but I couldn’t do anything.”

Mr Todd said his wife was unable to wake him upon arriving at home, so an ambulance was called. 

Paramedics were unable to rouse him.

Mr Todd said he was just “ready to go”.

“It was only when I was in hospital and they put a bulldog clip on my thumb that I thought, okay, I better actually come to. I was in hospital from there on,” he said.

Mr Todd said the transplant unit at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital were contacted, and he was flown over a couple of days later.

“I was actually so unwell that I got taken of the transplant list, because my body would not have coped,” he said.

“It just so happened that a day or so later, I made a miraculous recovery, and they put me back on the transplant list only to tell me later on that day that there was a heart available, and that I might get a transplant.

“I think it was after two or three days after arriving in Melbourne that I had the transplant. It was pretty amazing.”

Mr Todd said despite the difficulties he faced, it was harder for his wife.

“She couldn’t do anything, she was there for me all the time,” he said. 

“She was just incredible to keep the family together, to still work, look after our son and look after me.”

Mr Todd said after receiving a transplant, his life had taken a different turn.

“I was in forestry, and now I’ve retrained as a health professional as an exercise physiologist,” he said.

“Now I can help other people on their road to recovery. I try and get people healthy through exercise now. I’m quite often in contact with the cardiac rehab nurse at the Launceston General Hospital, and when required I’ll chat to anybody who’s been put on the list or who might need a transplant. It’s been a big change.”

Mr Todd said he wanted people to understand just how important organ and tissue donation was.

“Honestly, I often think of my donor family, and how generous they are,” he said.

“I did write to them. It took me 12 months to actually get the words right to write a letter to the donor family.

“It’s very difficult to put into words the impact that the donation has made in my life, and my family’s life.

“You just take things for granted, but you certainly shouldn’t.”

DonateLife Week runs from July 29 to August 5. 

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