A Cairns woman suffering kidney failure initiated a unique organ donor ‘raffle,’ inspiring a family member to step forward and save her life.
Rosa Duffy, who grew up in El Salvador in the 1970s, experienced multiple health issues as a child.
‘We didn’t have access to the highest medical care,’ she said.
‘So, my Mum would make a green iguana broth that she believed would make me better.
‘She would send one of my older brothers, Oscar, to the forest to hunt for green iguanas.’
Twenty years later, Rosa and her siblings fled to Australia as refugees, due to civil war in El Salvador.
In 1998, Rosa went for a general checkup in Perth, where she was living with her husband.
‘The doctors found one of my kidneys was only functioning at 30 per cent and the other kidney was working at less than 50 per cent,’ she said.
‘I was really scared not knowing what the outcome would be, and by this time, I was very sick.’
Four years later, Rosa was experiencing severe kidney disease and undergoing peritoneal dialysis.
She was informed by a specialist that she would require a kidney transplant.
‘I come from a big family – four brothers and five sisters,’ she said.
‘I organised a meeting at my mum’s place, and told them that my kidneys weren’t working, and the doctors said I urgently needed to have a kidney transplant.
‘I explained to them that for me to have a kidney transplant, we needed to go to the hospital to have a blood test done to see who was compatible with me.
‘Five of my siblings did the blood test. Four of them were compatible.
‘When the time came to choose who was going to donate my kidney, we held a family meeting, and I did a raffle where I wrote their names on a piece of paper and told them that the first name drawn from the hat would be the one to help me.’
Rosa’s sister’s name was the first that was drawn, but there was a redraw due to her age and having a young family.
The second name drawn was Rosa’s brother Oscar. He also had a young family but decided he still wanted to donate his kidney.
‘At the beginning of my story my brother Oscar looked after me when I was sick, then he gave me his kidney,’ she said.
Since her transplant in June 2002, Rosa said her quality of life had changed dramatically.
‘I was given a second chance of life through my brother, and I am forever grateful,’ she said.
‘I have been able to see my daughter grow up and travel around Australia with my family.
‘When I go for holiday to Western Australia to visit my family, I catch up with Oscar and he asks, ‘how is my kidney doing’?
‘I reply ‘perfectly well, my brother!’’
In Cairns, approximately 36% of the local government area’s eligible population are registered organ donors.
Cairns Hospital donation specialist nurse Loren Ginders said Rosa’s story highlighted how organ donation relies on the profound power of community and connection.
‘Her journey shows how a single act of selflessness, like Oscar’s, can transform a life and inspire others to consider becoming organ donors,’ Ms Ginders said.
‘Not everyone who needs a transplant is lucky enough to have family who are the perfect match.
‘But everyone can decide if they want to save up to 7 lives as an organ donor - and more through tissue donation.’
She said this DonateLife Week (27 July – 3 August), everyone was urged to please register as an organ and tissue donor.
‘Talk to your family, let them know you want to be a donor – someone’s life depends on it,’ Ms Ginders said.
It only takes one minute to register as an organ and tissue donor at donatelife.gov.au or through your Medicare account.