By Annette Campbell
Damian Harding is a 43-year-old IT specialist who lives in Canberra with his wife Eunmi and their daughter Destiny, aged seven.
He also happens to be someone’s superhero — Damian and his family made the decision to donate his brother Darren’s organs after Darren died in a motorbike accident in 1988.
But Damian’s story is special, because six years ago he received a life-saving kidney donation.
In the lead-up to Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week (February 17-24), Damian shares his unique perspective on the issue of organ donation.
“When that phone call came to say they had a kidney, I was very happy of course,” says quietly-spoken Damian. “But then I thought … someone’s died. And I knew what that family was going through right there and then. I still haven’t stopped thinking about that donor and their family — I think of them every day. It is such an honourable thing to give an anonymous gift of life.
“I know what it’s like to be sick and have learned to celebrate life more and not to take it for granted.”
Damian’s brother Darren was only 25 when he died following a motorbike accident.
Damian, one of three children, was living in his family’s hometown of Darwin at the time; he flew straight to Sydney to be with his brother.
“Darren was on a machine for another week and it became obvious he wasn’t going to come out,” Damian recalls.
“That’s when one of the doctors mentioned the possibility of organ donation. I thought that was a great idea!
“We were all just in an abyss of despair and this option was a bit of light for something good to happen, so we latched onto it. We understood that there were people waiting and lots of things to be organised, so we all said our goodbyes.
“Later we received a letter from the Red Cross, thanking us for the donation and letting us know that there had been two kidney recipients, one heart and both his corneas. That was really nice to know he’d helped a few people … so even now when I think about his death, it’s not such an overwhelmingly negative thing — there is a positive edge.”
Then in 1993, Damian was diagnosed with kidney disease.
By 1996 he was so sick that his doctor suggested if he wanted to do any travelling, to go and do it now, before the inevitability of beginning dialysis.
“I was taking a lot of medicine, including injections,” explains Damian. “It was obvious my kidneys were failing pretty quickly. So I went backpacking in Ireland and to Korea, where I met my beautiful wife.”
Damian began dialysis in 1997 and was on the treatment for nearly four years.
“As my deterioration continued, we talked about treatment options and one was a transplant. No-one in my family was suitable so I was placed on the waiting list.”
Damian was seriously ill and his weight, usually around 70kg, plummeted to 50-odd kilos.
Then at 4am one day in November 2001, Damian’s phone rang. “And I just knew!” he smiles. “My favourite doctor was on the line and he said, ‘We have a kidney for you, if you want it!’
“We were in living in Darwin at the time, so I had to fly to Adelaide for the procedure. My transplant was done on November 7 and only four days later I was feeling better than ever.
“Until then all food tasted horrible — meat tasted like aluminium foil. And one morning [after the transplant] they gave me boiled chicken and vegetables. I was hungry so I wanted to eat it … and it tasted great! It was the most delicious meal I’ve ever had.
“From that point on I loved food again and the world became wonderful. I felt so good and immediately started making plans for the future.”
Those plans included getting fit, which he did — and Damian ended up representing Australia in cycling at the World Transplant Games in Canada in 2005.
Damian will always be on medication and sees his specialist every two months.
“The kidney is working well — I’m still far better now than before the transplant,” he says. “It is such a wonderful gift and I celebrate it every day.”
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