At seven years of age, Deyaan Udani could think of sharing the gift of life through organ donation.
The little boy savied the lives of four other people after passing away from a blood clot and haemorrhage on his brain.
The Udani family spoke to SBS Punjabi about their son.
Deyaan's mother Mili said that they want to raise awareness about organ donation in multicultural communities especially in people of Indian-origin.
“It wasn’t easy to make this decision. But now we are proud of this decision,” said Ms Udani.
“We donated his heart, kidneys, liver and eyes, which saved four lives and also helped in restoring sight to two people in the process."
Mili and Rupesh were about to catch a return flight to Australia when their son Deyaan suddenly fell ill in January 2016.
Their daughter Naisha reminded them that Deyaan wanted to be an organ donor – something that Deyaan had already discussed with his parents after hearing about organ donation at his school.
Deeyan's parents Mili and Rupesh Udani campaigning for Saffron Day. Source: SBS Gujarati
He had asked his father ‘why are you not an organ donor?’
At the time, his father, Rupesh Udani, believed it was against his faith to be an organ donor, but later came to realise this was not the case.
“Deyaan wanted to come back to Australia. But it couldn’t happen,” says Rupesh. “We are committed to sharing his story so that multicultural communities especially the people of Indian-origin could join in to save lives."
"We also wish to raise awareness to tackle a number of common myths and misconceptions that are holding Australians back from deciding about or discussing organ and tissue donation."
Led by the Organ and Tissue Authority, DonateLife Week is a key part of the Australian Government's national reform program to increase organ and tissue donation and transplantation outcomes.
Each year, events are held across Australia during DonateLife week to encourage all Australians to register their donation decision and to discuss their donation decisions with their loved ones.
