Transplant recipient Brad Rossiter is living proof organ donations can save lives

Brad Rossiter has spent most his adult life working to have as many Australians as possible register to become organ donors after two organ donations saved his life.

Diagnosed with type one diabetes and starting dialysis in 2000, Mr Rossiter had both legs amputated and is now almost completely blind as a result of the disease.

All hope seemed lost for Brad, however, seven years later, he received a kidney and pancreas transplant.

“I seriously wouldn’t be here today had I not had those transplants,” he said.

“It was a tough time but I am still here. You push on, life is too good to give up so you keep walking forward.”

Since Mr Rossiter’s life was saved, he has spent every waking minute trying to get as many people as possible registered to the Australian Organ Registry.

With the exception of 2019 due to bushfires and 2020 due to the pandemic, Mr Rossiter has held an annual event in the Bridge Plaza in Batemans Bay to raise awareness of organ donations and if possible, register some new faces.

But it is not only these events that Mr Rossiter uses to spread the word, he also sets up a table in the Bridge Plaza every Friday to inform people of the importance of organ donations.

“It is so important,” he said.

“One person may unfortunately pass away, but if they are a registered organ donor, they can save up to 10 lives.”

As a result of his effort, Brad Rossiter was the recipient of the Order of Australia Medal on September 8 2020.

This year, the event returns and will be held on February 11 from 10 am to 2 pm.

Mr Rossiter stresses that registering is easy.

“People can come along, scan a QR code with their phone and as long as they have their Medicare card, they can fill it all out in about a minute,” he said.

“There will also be volunteers on the day to help out.”

Mr Rossiter said there are many myths people have when it comes to becoming an organ donor – some believe their age may be a factor, however this is far from the truth.

As long as you are over 18, anyone can register to be an organ donor.

“People also think health is an issue, like they think because they have cancer for example, that they can’t register, but there are all sorts of parts of the body that can be taken to help save another life,” Mr Rossiter said.

The idea of donating organs is, in Mr Rossiter’s eyes, as Australian as it gets.

He says helping out strangers is an Australian trait and this is exactly that – helping out strangers.

“I have never met the people who donated their organs to me which saved my life,” he said.

“But I do write to them every year to let them know how I am going and to say thank you.”

The goal of this years event is to register 20,000 new people to the Australian Organ Registry.

Mr Rossiter says if people cannot make it on the day, they can register at Donate Life or see him in the Bridge Plaza every Friday.