Sunbury resident Clare Beatson was born with cystic fibrosis, receiving a life-saving double-lung transplant in 2017 after her lung function dropped to 24 per cent during her 20s.
Ms Beatson and her husband Leigh Brennan, a player with the Sunbury Lions Football Club, are hosting an awareness and fundraising day at the club for organ and tissue donation and lung transplants.
The event will include football and netball games, activities, and a barbeque, raising awareness for organ donation and providing registration opportunities with DonateLife.
At night, the event will raise funds for Australian charity the Lungitude Foundation, which funds and facilitates research towards lung transplants.
Ms Beatson said that choosing to become a donor is a selfless act.
“To become a donor, and for the family to decide to go ahead with the donation – I can’t imagine what they would have gone through … I definitely wouldn’t be here, were it not for a donor,” Ms Beatson said.
She said she encourages those considering registering as a donor to express their wishes to their families.
“At the end of the day, they’re the ones that make the final decision,” she said.
“Knowing that [they] wish to become a donor [is] said to be quite valuable to their decision making.”
The first game of the event will begin at 10am and the fundraising night at 7pm, on Saturday, August 17, at the Sunbury Lions Football Club.
Details: trybooking.com/CTMDW
