Dying to Live Resources for Health Professionals
The Dying to Live team are happy to freely offer a number of short film resources under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. The resources below can be used freely for non-commercial purposes by health organisations who wish to raise awareness around organ and tissue donation and related issues. You are free to use our platform or contact your IT professional and they can embed them on your website. If you wish to modify, adapt or repurpose these micro-documentaries please reach out to us.
Human Impact Stories:
These Microdocs follow Dying to Live's characters, demonstrating the impact of organ and tissue donation on individual lives.
Allan's Story
Allan Turner is the father of Zaidee, a 7-year-old girl who became the only organ and tissue donor under the age of 16. In this microdoc we see Allan and other Dying to Live stars working to drive organ and tissue donation donor registration through the work of Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation and develop an understanding of why Allan is so personally passionate about this cause.
Useful for: Encouraging people to register, busting organ and tissue donation myths, and demonstrating the value of passionate communities and individuals organising around a cause.
Holly's Story
Holly Ralph has cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic disorder that afflicts her lungs, so they can only function at 16% of their capacity. We meet Holly after she's received her transplant, her contact with her donor, and the life she's able to lead after having received her transplant.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, the impacts of cystic fibrosis, gratefulness of transplant recipients.
Holly's Story (Donor Family Perspective)
We see Holly Ralph's story (above) from the perspective of the family of Katherine, the woman who donated her lungs to Holly. This microdoc shows the impact that organ donation can have on grieving family members, and what contact between recipients and donor families can look like.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, impacts of donation on grieving families, contact between donor families and recipients.
Kate's Story (Pre-transplant)
Kate "Kitty" Hansen is a diabetic, who has been awaiting a pancreas and double kidney transplant for over six harrowing years, enduring exhausting dialysis three times a week. We experience the hardship of waiting for a transplant, and how waiting can be a life and death issue.
Useful for: Encouraging people to register, kidney health, diabetes, PRES syndrome, the impacts of waiting for organ and tissue donation on potential recipients and their families.
Kate's Story (Post-transplant)
Kate's Guardian Angel is a microdoc which follows Kate "Kitty" Hansen several months after she received a life-saving double transplant. We see how Kate has become an advocate for organ and tissue donation as she fulfils a long-held dream to participate in a national beauty competition for tattooed women, as well as the challenges and joys of life post-transplant.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, expectations after transplantation, recipients as advocates, the body art community.
Henry's Story
Henry Archoo is an Indigenous Bardi man living on country in the Kimberley. Blind in one eye and virtually blind in the other, he awaits a corneal transplant. This microdoc explores the unique experience of an Aboriginal Australian waiting for a transplant, and how his poor vision impacts his ability to support his wife and stay engaged with his community.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, eye health, Aboriginal Australian health issues, older Australians, the impacts of waiting for a donation on potential recipient's families.
Woody's Story
Peter "Woody" Wood received his first new kidney when he was just 11 - after having crashed into a rugby goal post - which unfortunately failed by the time he was 16. In this microdoc we see Peter's reaction to receiving his third kidney transplant and the complexities around receiving multiple organ donations.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, kidney health, multiple donation recipients, donated organ rejection.
Kelli & Ebony's Story
Ebony Rose was an organ donor who tragically passed away in a car accident in 2011. Her decision to register as an organ donor led to six lives being saved. Her mother, Kelli, reads a letter from a woman who received Ebony's heart and reflects on having made contact with Ebony's donation recipient.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, impacts of donation on grieving families, contact between donor families and recipients.
Kim & Allan Remember
Kim & Allan Remember is a microdoc which shows the grief and meaning that two parents make following the lifesaving gift made by their daughter, Zaidee. Zaidee died of a Cerebral Anuerism in 2004 and, having expressed her wishes to donate her organs and tissues, became the youngest Australian to donate her organs that year.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, impacts of donation on grieving families.
Organ and Tissue Donation Issues:
These short films explore issues around organ and tissue donation.
Consent Systems
Australia currently has an "opt-in" system for organ and tissue donation. Allan Turner visits an Australian Medical Association conference to explore the different consent models available and makes the argument for a "soft opt-out" system.
Useful for: Discussion around consent systems, considering families in organ and tissue donation.
Emerging Technologies - Heart in a Box
St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney has been a leader in heart transplantation in Australia. This micro-documentary showcases the "Heart in a Box" technology which will enable more heart transplants in Australia. We also meet Abe, a heart transplant recipient.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, heart transplantation, emerging medical technologies.
Faith, Beliefs & Organ Donation
This short collection of passages from religious texts explores the ethics of organ and tissue donation in various faith-based communities, and busts the myth that faith is necessarily a barrier to organ and tissue donation.
Useful for: The value of organ and tissue donation, promoting donor registration and understanding in faith communities.