Sydney teenager Joel Seeto waited four months on the organ transplant list, before he got the call.
"You're in kind of panic mode every time the phone went off, any time of the day, it didn't actually matter what time of the day it was. I was like: this was the call, this was the call. So I literally geed myself up (wound myself up)every time the phone rung. Any time a private number came up on the screen. I was like: this is it. So you're edge all the time."
It came at 6am, and Joel had two hours to get into surgery for a heart tranplant. His mother, Liz, says she recalls the moment vividly.
"I remember distinctly everything that we did, how we drove there. How we felt. I don't remember what was playing on the radio in the car, but I remember almost everything else. I think our mood was quite buoyant because we thought okay, this is the beginning of something new."
Joel was 18 when he was told his heart was failing.
"The transplant team wasn't something I wanted to hear or have anything to do with."
But a transplant saved Joel's life. Dr. Helen Opdam, the National Medical Director of the Organ and Tissue Authority, says 2016 was a record year for organ donations.
"Last year, in 2016 we had a record number of 1448 people receive lifesaving transplants. But there is more we can do and that is what we're striving to do -- those of us of who are involved in this area."
In 2016, there was a 16 percent boost in deceased organ donors from 2015 -- saving 17 per cent more lives.
There was also a 9 per cent rise in living donors in 2016, with 267 people receiving an organ.
With 1600 Australians on the list every year, many die still waiting.
It is a reality that haunts Liz Seeto.
"People wait a lot longer and they don't even make the wait... so how would that be for the family lets alone for the individual?"
Each donor can save up to 10 other people.
In Australia, one of the major barriers to donor registration is religion.
But advocates say there is no mainstream faith that forbids its followers from giving or receiving a transplant.
Dr Opdam says it is a significant issue.
"When we approach families at the time of somebody's death, those who decline (consent) -- about 20 per cent do so because they're uncertain if their religion supports donation."
Another barrier is communication.
Fewer than half of registered donors are able to give their organs if their family do not know their wishes.
Liz Seeto says she will forever remember the gift her family has been given.
"It's the donor family that are the most amazing people, to be that generous. To donate their loved one's organs. To hopefully many people, we don't know. We don't know who the donor is. But we're very grateful."
Joel will never know their name, but he carries one particular person in his new heart.
"I hope that somewhere they know that like (pause)I'm doing my best with it."
