There are many things in life Miranda Crowthers-Jones is grateful for, but having a healthy heart and a son, tops the list.
The organ transplant recipient and mother to Harry, of Engadine, is recalling her journey this month as November marked DonateLife 'Thank You' Day - a time to reflect on those who make organ donation possible.
Organ donation first made its mark on Ms Crowthers-Jones in 2010, when her step-brother Jeremy, 21, died after fatally hitting his head. He fell from a moving vehicle. The family made the decision to donate his organs.
"Organ donation didn't actually come up until doctors had done everything they could to save his life," Ms Crowther-Jones said.
"It was only when we were dealing with the loss that we thought something has to come of this. It was a miracle. It didn't just save him, it saved our family."
Five years later, Ms Crowthers-Jones was the one who needed a heart transplant. She had discovered earlier in 2008 she had a genetic mutation.
"My grandma passed at age 29. When I was 16 months old, my dad was 31 when he died of a heart condition," she said.
"I was 21 when I started having heart failure symptoms. I was breathless, I couldn't walk along a flat road. My body was full of fluid and I would wake up in middle of night gasping for air."
Ms Crowthers-Jones was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle, where the heart is unable to pump properly.
But another aspect of life stepped in, and she made the choice to have a baby, conceived via egg donation and carried as a surrogate by her best friend in 2014.
"I didn't want to pass on my genetic syndrome," she said. "A day after my baby shower, I was told needed a heart transplant. It was two months before Harry was born."
The new mother was told by doctors to enjoy being a mum, but that her time was running out.
"I couldn't bathe him. I had to rest for 30 minutes after taking a shower before I got dressed. I was told I wasn't going to live to see him turn one. Then I went into heart failure."
But four weeks later, she received a young, healthy heart.
"I post a photo online every year that I've had my transplant," she said. "It reminds me of all the birthdays and Christmases I would have missed out on.
"My 20s were all about living in my disease, my 30s were about learning how to live with an organ transplant, and my 40s is about living."
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