Organ Donation

Rose's excellent doctors, and possibly hundreds of other professionals, delivered her to the point of being able to receive the gift of a donated liver. Our family and friends held us together during the long wait.

But without the decision of a grieving family and the gift that flowed from their actions, nothing could have helped Rose to survive for much longer.

Overly sentimental words seem inappropriate in thanking families who have agreed to the donation of organs. It's hard to get the words right.

I want to tell families who have donated organs that we cherish the gift of Rose's liver; that our little girl is now strong and healthy, with no apparent memory of her illness; that we never forget their generosity.

We are, of course, registered organ donors.

Shane describes like this his feelings about Rose receiving a liver:

"With young children, it is usual to imagine with excitement and trepidation their future; fanning out like the branches of a tree are the unrealized possibilities for their lives. I see Rose sitting at the trunk of such a tree, her life full of potential but as yet still narrow. With that potential our little girl also carries the skill, dedication, love and luminous generosity of the people who have made her life possible, and on her journey, nestled close to her heart, she cradles the liver of her greatest friend."