Seven forever and 20 years strong: Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation marks milestone in organ donation advocacy

In the case of Zaidee Turner, they got the ending wrong.

With a zest for life befitting her age and an empathy that surpassed it, she came home from school one day and told her parents that if anything were to happen to her, she wanted to donate her organs to other children.

On December 2, 2004, seven-year-old Zaidee died from a cerebral aneurysm and became the sole child in Victoria that year to donate organs and tissues.

Shortly after, Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation, a charity born from the tragedy of Allan and Kim Turner losing their daughter, began.

Its mission was two-pronged: continue Zaidee’s legacy and inspire others to have the discussion at the end of life.

“The 20-year journey has gone so quick, it’s been the blink of an eye,” Allan said.

“The day she died ... it does feel like that’s the day that life changed for us dramatically.”

What happened to this sprightly seven-year-old was the kind of story that could make a national impact — and it certainly did.

Initially, it was told through Zaidee’s rainbow shoelaces.

It started as 2000 pairs of laces in 2004 and escalated to two million pairs in 2024.

“To think we only wanted to sell a couple hundred pairs when we got back to Shepparton,” Allan said.

This was followed by a campaign of loud rainbows accompanied by Zaidee’s radiant smile that ballooned into Australia’s consciousness and popped the silence surrounding organ and tissue donation discussion.

It didn’t hurt to have a little ‘Extra! Extra!’ attention in the media, either.

“I’ve told Zaidee’s story everywhere,” Allan said.

“There’s not a single newspaper, TV, or radio station I haven’t been on. Literally.

“When Zaidee died, that was huge, and when we launched the opt-out campaign, it was massive.”

Since 2015, the foundation has advocated for ‘Zaidee’s Law’, a policy change to move Australia from an opt-in to an opt-out system.

Under the opt-out system, individuals are presumed organ donors at the end of life unless they indicate otherwise by signing a form.

Though we are not an opt-out country yet, the foundation has spurred change in Australia’s health and education systems.

For the past two decades, Allan has given ‘Zaidee’s Presentations’ to primary schools, high schools, sporting clubs and more.

During these visits, he gifts his 2018 children’s book Chasing Rainbows.

However, many already know about Zaidee and organ and tissue donation.

Broadcast nationwide, several AFL players have sported the signature laces over the years, leaving their mark on the foundation’s history.

“In our first AFL match, Melbourne and Geelong, in 2006, 44 players wore Z’s laces,” Allan said.

“That’s one of our greatest highlights because that’s the first time we really went out, we got recognition, and that was the game that Tom (Lonergan) lost his kidney, ironically.”

On the pitch, foundation ambassadors and Australian cricketers Aaron Finch and Meg Lanning also made headlines when they strolled on to the field with their bats decorated with a rainbow cricket grip.

Every time they hit a 50, they raised the bat and the message.

These elite endeavours trickled down to the grassroots level, inspiring countless individuals to consider the gift of life through donation.

“We got a message the other day from a woman about her 13-year-old son,” Allan said.

“They had the conversation years ago, and then at 13, he committed suicide and went on to be an organ and tissue donor, saving a number of lives through donation.

“I was in tears and had a lump in my throat when I read it, you don’t wish that upon anybody.

“But hearing these stories gives Kim and I a lot of strength and comfort that we’ve done a lot of good things over 20 years.”

To honour the 20th anniversary of Zaidee’s death, the Turner family raised a glass to the heavens.

Three weeks earlier, on November 8, they had done the same for Zaidee’s birthday.

“She’ll be seven forever, and we’ll celebrate her seventh birthday forever,” Allan said.

“We can’t see Zaidee as a 27-year-old, we can only see her as a seven-year-old.”

Running a charity in memory of a loved one who passed away too young for 20 years is hard to imagine.

It’s even harder to imagine that after 20 years, there would still be work to do.

But there is.

“There will always be something — a voice in the media, a voice in the ears of politicians to change the law from an opt-in to an opt-out, selling merchandise, seeking sporting teams to get behind the foundation,” Allan said.

“We’ve always worked on a 12-month calendar, and you don’t have time to breathe because you’re on to the next thing of developing a product or a campaign.

“On the 20th anniversary this year, we took a deep breath and thought, we never ever thought we’d get here.

“Now, after 20 years, it’s time for us to take a step back.

“It (the foundation) will still be there, but we’re going to be more driven at the keyboard versus out there in the marketplace because of time and restrictions.

“We’ll never give up Zaidee, no matter what.”

Zaidee only had a mere seven years here on Earth.

The Ancient Egyptians were correct to say that she took her last breath and died.

What they missed is that her second life kept stretching long after she disappeared over the rainbow.

Zaidee’s organs and tissues live on in the bodies of six children and one middle-aged mum, who had two children of her own.

And then there’s Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation.

The impact of one little girl’s wish and the tsunami of her legacy through the foundation has been unfathomable.

No matter which direction the charity chooses to take, Zaidee has and will forever be changing lives.

In the heavy hearts of those who know her or her story, she lives on.

Allan Turner would like to thank his wife, Kim, and son, Jaz.

“Without their support, I could not have done this for 20 years,” he said.

“I could not have achieved any of this without them by my side.”

To learn more about Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation and organ and tissue donation in Australia, visit www.zaidee.org/