Donna is making a difference for donors in Mackay
An inability to fulfil the final wish of a former patient prompted Mackay Hospital and Health Service (MHHS) nurse Donna Contor to undertake specialised training to ensure that it didn’t happen again.
The Donation Specialist Nurse Coordinator at Mackay Base Hospital has dedicated many years to supporting those in the region who wish to donate their organs after their death.
However, there had been a barrier for Mackay residents to donate eye tissue due to the service not being made available.
“My role involves coordinating any organ donations and looking after the families and potential donors along with going out into the community and raising awareness of organ donation,” Donna said. “We had a person whose dying wish was to donate their eye tissue and we weren’t able to do this. Had this person been in Brisbane it may have been okay,” she said.
It got my brain ticking over, and I was thinking how good it would be to offer that to local residents in Mackay?
Donna responded to an expression of interest for the Janette Hall Training and Development Scholarship offered by the Organ and Tissue Authority. Donna applied and was ultimately successful.
Donna completed her clinical training at the Queensland Tissue Bank at Coopers Plains before returning back to work in her local community.
“I think it’s important for regional areas,” Donna said. “There are some people who may only be able to donate their eye tissue, and now we can ensure that wish is fulfilled,” she said.
Donna was initially the only person based in the regions able to perform the delicate surgery; now two other hospitals in Rockhampton and Cairns offer the service, with Townsville soon to come on board.
While the role is a challenging one, Donna said the rewards are worth it.
“I’ll be at community events and someone will come up to me to and tell me they received a kidney or a lung transplant and some of those people go on to assist at community events for DonateLife,” Donna said.
“To see these people living their best lives, and the gratitude they have, that’s what makes the job so good.
“They give me strength and if we can offer a donation that has a positive outlook in the end, the fact they are helping people…it’s hard to explain how people go from their lowest point to a positive place.
“Seeing that is the best part of my job.”
Inspired by Donna’s work, Donation Specialist Nurse Josephine Reoch at Rockhampton Hospital is excited about becoming involved with eye tissue donations.
“It has been disappointing in the past to be unable to fulfill our local donor’s wishes to restore the sight of others,” Josephine said.
“This, and admiring Donna’s trailblazing work by becoming trained in eye tissue retrieval, encouraged me to also make this opportunity available in our region.
“The support of DonateLife Queensland and the Queensland Tissue Bank, meant our training was thorough and we returned to our hospitals with the knowledge, support and processes in place to expand the service outside of the south-east corner of Queensland.”
Statistics show that eight out of 10 Queenslanders are in favour of organ donation.
However, only 31 per cent of Queenslanders have signed up to become donors.
Last year, 2,486 Australians received the gift of sight through a corneal transplant, with an additional 9,904 people receiving issue transplants.
“Many people just don’t get around to taking action on their wishes, and we are all busy these days; I guess talking about your death and dying with your family is never something that anyone wants to do,” Donna said.
“Since the reminder to register online with a driver’s licence and vehicle registration renewals, there has been an increase in registrations, but we still have a long way to go.”
If you want to register as a donor, Donna has some advice.
“Jump online, it’s so simple,” she said.
“Registering takes the pressure off the family when they are in mourning; we can say to them, ‘this is what your loved one wanted’.”
From 8 – 12 September it is national Eye and Tissue Spotlight 2025 – shining a light on eye and tissue donation. Find out more on the DonateLife website.
It takes less than a minute to register as an organ donor. Find out more and register at DonateLife or through your MyGov account.