AMSA 2023 Embolus Publication

AMSA INITIATIVE GROUPS
30
AMSA
VAMPIRE CUP
DonateLife
During July, our DonateLife social media campaign raised awareness about
the Australian Organ Donation Registry. The campaign aimed to educate that
despite our support (76%) for organ/tissue donation, only 36% are registered
on the Australian Organ Donation Registry
We can open up this conversation and help the 1800 Australians waitlisted for
an organ transplant and the 13,000, currently on dialysis, find a potential
donor
Strength to Give - Australia’s stem cell donor registry
Over 110,000 Australians (and millions more overseas!) are living with blood
cancer. By joining the donor registry, you could save someone’s life.
Recipient story : Pamela was diagnosed with a blood cancer at the age of 24.
For years after, she underwent many treatments, including chemotherapy,
radiation and an autologous transplant, that were all unfortunately
unsuccessful. Then, she was given the option of a donor stem cell transplant,
which required a matching donor. However, her Lebanese background made
finding a donor match quite challenging. Her brother, Matt, created a
Facebook page to spread the message, which gained national and
international media attention. Her story prompted many people to join the
bone marrow registry, and eventually, Pamela received a successful cord
blood stem cell transplant. Her story inspired the creation of Lebanon's first
bone marrow registry, and she later even went to Lebanon to raise awareness
of this scarcity. Pamela went on to receive the fantastic news that her cancer
was in remission in December 2013.