Two-year-old Christopher Robertson had beautiful brown eyes. He also had an infectious smile and like other kids his age, he longed to be a super hero. And, in a tragic twist, he got his wish.
Last month Christopher was killed in a horrific car crash in Granville, Western Sydney. He was sitting in his stroller when a car mounted the pavement and crushed the stroller into the wall of an apartment building.
Despite tireless efforts from emergency services, Christopher died the next day at Westmead Children’s Hospital.
But in the spirit of Christopher’s inner super hero, his parents made the gut-wrenching decision to donate his beautiful brown eyes to a stranger who needed them.
“We are just glad he could donate his eyes so he could help another,” Christopher’s father, James Robertson told the Daily Telegraph.
Although Australia is a world leader in organ and tissue donation success rates, organ donation remains a confronting topic. Especially when it comes to donating organs and tissue from children.
38 year-old Jon Seccull understands the complexities around this issue more than he would like to.
In 2011, Jon’s three-year-old son Ethan was struck by a passenger train. Like other kids his age, Ethan was a keen climber and had scaled the back fence of the family’s Ballarat home so he could wave at the passing trains.
Ethan’s mum, 35-year-old Michelle was able to revive him at the scene, but it was obvious that he was in a very serious condition.
The youngster was flown to the Royal Children’s hospital in Melbourne where surgeons did all they could for him. Sadly, the brain damage Ethan sustained was too great to recover from.
The Seccull family then faced the heartbreak of saying goodbye to their little boy. Jon told The Weekly Online that it was very confronting to see Ethan on life support.
“He was our perfect little three-year-old to cuddle and kiss, he had lips to kiss and hands to hold,” he recalls.
The seccull’s were able to spend time with Ethan and even had the chance to bring their other children into the hospital to say goodbye to their brother.
The topic of organ donation didn’t come up until Jon and Michelle were alone with Ethan.
“We were bargaining with every worldly possession that we own, wanting a miracle and wanting Ethan to survive – and we knew there were other families in the same position – praying for that miracle,” he recalls.
When the couple discussed the idea they both agreed that if an organ donor could save Ethan they would gladly accept the gift of life.
“We thought it would be awfully selfish to take it, but not be prepared to give it,” says Jon.
The Seccull’s discussed their decision with the hospital who explained the organ donation legislation and logistics.
Armed with all of the information they needed the Seccull’s decided to continue with their plan to donate Ethan’s organs. His life support was switched off later that day.
“He’d fought so hard, but he’d admitted defeat – he didn’t even take a breath,” remembers Jon.
“The hardest part was walking out of the hospital without him.”
Ethan “Jimmy” Seccull
The Seccull’s heart wrenching decision led to life saving surgery for three people – an adult male and two young children.
“It is very humbling to know that our little boy has touched three people’s lives in the way that he has.
Jon says that he is confident that if Ethan had been old enough to understand what he was doing he would have given his full consent.
“Ethan was the type of kid that shared everything that he had, he was the type of kid that would run around the room sharing biscuits or chips, and it never bothered him if there were none left,” says Jon.
Since Ethan’s death, Jon and Michelle have established the Ethan ‘Jimmy’ Seccull Foundation, working closely with the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority, the purpose of the foundation is to promote organ and tissue donation.
“We use Ethan’s story to help amplify the key messages. Particularly in regards to paediatric donation,” explains Jon.
Jon hopes that as time goes on organ and tissue donation become less taboo. “It should just be something that we do as a society,” he says.
While it is a difficult and confronting conversation, Jon thinks that parents should discuss organ and tissue donation so that if the worst happens they will both be on the same page.
“You discuss schooling, what sport they’re going to play, we talk about whether or not they’ll have braces, so why shouldn’t we talk about organ donation?
“Of course no one wants to go through it – but the reality is that it does happen,” he says.
“We take great comfort in knowing that there are three people alive because of Ethan. His legacy and gift lives on.”
for more information about organ and tissue donation visit www.donatelife.gov.au
