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Airdate: Dying to Live

SBS doco highlights immense suffering for those awaiting organ donation.

Documentary film Dying to Live will air on SBS later this month.

One of the Good Pitch Australia projects, this raises issues around organ donation and the long wait some Australians face.

Deep beneath the complex world of organ and tissue transplantation are the heart- wrenching stories of real people awaiting life-saving organs in Australia. Why must they wait so long? Are changes in policy required – or shifts in perception? Is it as simple as signing up and having the conversation with loved ones? And why do we avoid the topic of death?

What does it take to support a family member running out of time as they await the generosity of strangers? How difficult is it to consider the death of a loved one as a chance at life for someone else? And how much love and understanding does it take to make the compassionate decision to become a physical philanthropist?

Through intensely moving personal stories, Dying to Live is a compassionate call to action from filmmaker Richard Todd, whose earlier film Frackman galvanised communities across Australia.

The majority of Australians (69%) are willing to become organ and tissue donors, but 61% of Australians don’t know or are unsure of the donation decision of their loved ones.

With only 1 in 3 Australian on the organ donor register (and only 8% of 18-24 year old Australians) the screening of Dying to Live is an important opportunity to ignite a national conversation.

Wednesday 23 January at 8.35pm on SBS.

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