Double-lung recipient Lachie McLachlan (65), of Mosgiel, is
thankful to the anonymous donor and their family for his
second chance. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Queenstown-lakes District residents are more likely to
indicate yes to organ donation on their driver's licence than
any other New Zealand district.
New Zealand Transport Agency data revealed 66.2% of driver's
licence-holders at the end of June in Queenstown-Lakes
District had indicated yes to organ donation.
The next most willing district was Wellington City with 62%.
The two districts with the fewest indicating yes were Wairoa
(31.4%) and Kawerau (33.7%).
Donation NZ clinical director Dr Stephen Streat said the
major driver of people indicating yes was socio-economic
A Canadian study revealed the richer a person was, the more
likely they were to indicate yes, Dr Streat said.
''I guess the people in Queenstown have plenty of money.''
More than 1.75 million people indicated yes on their licence
- 52.7% of licence-holders - and there were 36 deceased organ
donors in New Zealand last year.
Historically, most donations were from people who had
received brain injuries in a vehicle accident, but road
safety education had resulted in several hundred fewer
deaths, Dr Streat said.
Now most donors died from spontaneous bleeding in the brain
from a ruptured blood vessel, but fewer people smoking
cigarettes and better treatment meant fewer deaths and
About 30,000 people died annually in New Zealand but fewer
than 100 under circumstances allowing organ donation.
''You need to die in an intensive care unit, as a result of a
severe brain injury, and be on a ventilator.''
The family of the dead person could decline the donation and
about half of the families of eligible donors accepted, he
Donation NZ actively discouraged contact between the donor
family and organ recipient because of the ''great potential
''It has a real potential to be damaging to both the donor
family and the recipient in various ways.''
However, if there was mutual consent, Donation NZ facilitated
a letter exchange without identifying information.
Real estate agent Lachie McLachlan (65), of Mosgiel, said he
had a double lung transplant after being diagnosed in 2011
with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis - scarring or thickening
of the lungs without a known cause.
The disease made him wheelchair-bound and a frequent visitor
to hospitals in Dunedin and Auckland.
He was given months to live and had booked a bed at Otago
Community Hospice when he was told ''healthy'' lungs had
''If I didn't have that transplant when I had it I was facing
death in two or three weeks.''
He was thankful to the donor allowing him ''another chance''
and to their family for approving the donation.
Motorists whose licences say ''yes'' to be organ donors in
the event of death