When I finally got “the call” that saved my life

After two horrendous years waiting for the gift of life while dying I finally got THE CALL. The call people are waiting for all over the world. It’s a call that is bittersweet because a chance for a new life is in your reach but sometimes it’s the end of another life for someone else. You sit nervously with your family as you wait to get the word that this is really going to happen while you know another family is tormented with the loss of their loved one. Quickly you discover the heroes are that brave family making a decision that may save your life. Your hope is that the donor him or herself made the decision to donate in life to spare their own family the torture of making just another gut wrenching decision at what surely is the worst time of their lives.

We are on a crusade to just take that element out of the mix. We are encouraging everyone to make their own decision while they are well.

Since receiving the heart of United States Coastguard Serviceman Michael Blaine Bovill, I have seen both sides of this story play out good and bad. Facing death you make some tough decisions whether you are going to live or die just in the attitude you choose. Don’t get me wrong: the medical staff has a lot to do with that but a patient’s attitude goes a long way to their recovery, especially after 60. You can define your illness as the end or you can say it’s the beginning of a new different world.

Because of the person I have become over many years of social, financial and medical struggles, I chose to live in the best manner possible: by paying it forward. Not just giving that phrase lip service but by giving it real life by signing up thousands of Americans and inspiring many outside of America through social media to do the same. Oprah Winfrey heard my story and her producers thought it would be great to share it. Little did I know she had a big surprise for when she found Michael’s entire family for me to meet in front of millions of her TV show.

Recently I was discovered by one of your own Mark Bowness from This Is Your Life Change Revolution and although I won’t be coming to Australia I will be really close this August in Fiji with a couple of your fellow countrymen trying to finally achieve our dreams. My dream is simply to bring the beauty of organ donation awareness to the world and educate everyone about how it works by sharing the stories of the heroes who give life.

I hope you will think of me as you go about your business this August knowing that I will be challenging myself to be the best I can be after 60. I hope you also know that life is good no matter where you are or what age consider donating your organs when you life is over to save another person like Michael did for me. Remember always “Life is short: eat dessert first”!

By Roxanne Watson

Tell us today, have you or someone close to you benefited from organ donation?