Dominic gets a new heart and a second chance at life
Dominic Joseph is grateful to be alive after receiving a donor heart.
It was 2009 and Dominic Joseph had just returned home from travelling overseas when he started experiencing breathlessness, persistent cold and flu symptoms, and nausea after walking short distances.
After visiting his GP and a trip to the emergency department, life changed in an instant for the 22-year-old, when cardiologists broke the news that Dominic was in heart failure due to a virus and had around five years left to live.
“I had asthma as a kid, so thought what I was experiencing was normal,” Dominic said.
“I attempted to go back to work after my overseas trip, but even after walking short distances from my car to my front door, I felt like throwing up.”
By 2014 Dominic was going downhill fast, and discussions of a heart transplant were starting to be had.
As a last effort attempt, in 2015 the medical team at The Prince Charles Hospital decided to fit Dominic with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) which is implanted in the chest to help pump blood.
It was here, while Dominic was still in hospital recovering from the LVAD surgery, that fate would find him a perfect match in a donor heart, and he was quickly rushed back into surgery.
Nine years on, Dominic reflects on what was a ‘scary time’ for him as he was so unwell but has mixed emotions on being given a second chance at life.
“Someone had to pass, so that I could live,” he said.
“I see things very differently and I appreciate being alive every day, such as even if I wake up and it is cold outside, I am happy to be here and to wake up in my bed.”
Every year on his transplant anniversary, Dominic and his partner take their dog to a special spot and release a love
heart balloon and light a candle to remember the donor who saved his life.
“If someone is willing to donate their organs, it will change another family’s life,” he said.
“As a recipient, I will always remember and think of my donor and their family.”
It’s DonateLife Week this week with Australians encouraged to talk about organ and tissue donation with family and friends. Find out more information on organ donation.