JENNY and Viv Simpson have been advocates for organ donation since Jenny had a liver transplant three years ago.

Since then, Mr Simpson had been manning a stall at the Bellingen market to raise awareness about organ donation, but stopped because of Covid-19 risks.

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“Nobody knows if they will need an organ transplant,” Mrs Simpson said.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would need one, so I urge everyone to consider giving others a second chance,” she said this week.

“I am eternally grateful that someone chose to donate, because I would not be here now if they hadn’t.”

The Simpsons are urging Coffs Coast residents to become involved with DonateLife Week, which begins this Sunday 24 July until Sunday 31 July.

It is a national awareness week that promotes donation and encourages more people to talk to their family about the importance of Australia’s organ and tissue donation and register.

While the majority of Australians believe it’s important to be an organ and tissue donor, only one in three are currently registered.

The first step to being involved is to register to be a donor.

A Medicare card is all that is needed and Mrs Simpson said registration was very simple.

The Simpsons said family and friends needed to know if someone wants to be a donor and they can be encouraged to talk about it and register too.

The ‘2022 supporter kit’ – which includes templates for posters, key facts and statistics, draft newsletter articles, key messages and promotional material to use across social media – will be available for download soon.

There is also a signature block, posters and social media tiles for use on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that can be downloaded.

People are urged to promote DonateLife Week on their social media by tagging DonateLife Australia and using hashtags #DonateLife, #DonateLifeWeek and #DonateLifeWeek2022.

Inquiries can be made by emailing seslhd-nsworgandonation@health.nsw.gov.au.

By Andrew VIVIAN