The Turners were a typical country family.
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They lived in Shepparton, had two youngsters and a dog running around, and both parents held steady jobs.
“Nothing special about us, nothing at all,” dad Allan Turner said.
“Until the day our daughter Zaidee died, and was the only child in Victoria to be an organ and tissue donor.
“That changed our lives, and still has, forever.”
Zaidee Turner died from a cerebral aneurysm in 2004 at the age of seven.
Her decision to become an organ and tissue donor at the end of life saved and improved the lives of seven people, and her legacy lives on through Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation, a charity established in her honour.
As foundation founder and proud dad of Zaidee, Mr Turner’s mission is organ and tissue donation education, awareness and conversation.
And it doesn’t start at 18 years when one can legally sign up to be a donor.
For nearly 20 years, Mr Turner has given ‘Zaidee’s Presentations’ to primary schools, high schools, sporting clubs and more.
Most recently, he spoke to Year 3 to Year 6 students at Kialla West Primary School, on Wednesday, June 19.
In a peculiar game of ‘Simon Says’, Mr Turner started his presentation by asking students to put their hands on their hearts, lungs, corneas and kidneys.
All managed to find the first two.
However, the whereabouts of corneas and kidneys required some direction.
Diving in, his voice, a commanding alto of friendliness and fervour, reverberated around the school’s halls as he spoke about the foundation, their ambassadors, what they’ve achieved and, of course, the significance of Zaidee’s rainbow laces.
Students craned their necks, peering up at Mr Turner as he displayed Zaidee’s laces on shoes, stitched into footballs and decorated on every item imaginable.
But it was the story of Zaidee that hammered the message home.
“Back in 2004, Zaidee was sitting on her bed, making Christmas cards for her classmates at Orrvale Primary School... then off she went to bed,” Mr Turner said.
“Moments later, she came screaming down the corridor, complaining of a pain in her head.
“She fell unconscious in my wife’s arms, and we couldn’t wake her up.”
Zaidee was rushed to hospital in Shepparton, where doctors discovered a severe brain bleed.
She was then airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, taken into the operating room, and that was it.
“She died at the age of seven years and 22 days,” Mr Turner said.
At age six, Zaidee had told her family that if something were to happen to her, she wanted to donate her organs to other kids.
Seven months later, that’s exactly what happened.
She donated both her corneas to two four-year-old children, her liver to an eight-year-old girl, parts of her heart to two newborns and an infant, and her kidneys to a middle-aged mum who had two young children.
“Zaidee saved their lives because we, as a family, talked about what organ and tissue donation was, just in case,” Mr Turner said.
“We never thought Zaidee would be the first in our family to be an organ and tissue donor.”
The students sat, absorbing the information like little sponges.
It piqued interest and raised an eyebrow or two, but it didn’t evoke fear.
“Kids aren’t scared about death and dying — they’re not afraid of it.”
The same can’t be said for parents, though.
As Mr Turner pointed out, for a child to become an organ and tissue donor, they have to die.
“Scary subject for a parent to talk about whether their child is six or 26,” he said.
“Parents think it’ll never happen to them, and they don’t want it to happen to them. But it happened to us, and it could happen to anybody.”
Following the presentation, students were sent home with a Zaidee’s card.
When asked if they’d have the conversation at home tonight, a resounding ‘yes’ echoed across the room.
“Parents, when discussing organ and tissue donation with your child, do it gently, be honest and upfront,” Mr Turner said.
“It’s a part of life — being born, living and dying is what happens.
“If a kid comes home talking about death and dying, a parent’s got to respond, and as a foundation, for others to have that conversation is what we’re all about.”
Acknowledging the conversation’s confronting and uncomfortable nature, Mr Turner encouraged parents to share Zaidee’s story.
“We don’t wish it upon any parent to lose a child, but if you’re in that situation, maybe you or your child could do what Zaidee did and save someone’s life,” he said.
“That’s the power of knowing Zaidee’s story.”
To learn more about Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation and organ and tissue donation in Australia, visit https://www.zaidee.org/
Journalist