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Steven Bawden - a very special young man

This is the story of a special young man who lost his life in 1997 and accomplished an extraordinary act by becoming an organ donor.

From Leith and Jenny Bawden

Steven BawdenThis is the face of a fellow Australian. Just like thousands of us. Just like you and me. This is also the face of a special young man who lost his life on the 16th October 1997. The face of our son, Steven. This is not an extraordinary face, but the possessor of this face accomplished an extraordinary act.
Steven is an Organ Donor

Although he was only 19 at the time of his death, Steven had already shown he was a compassionate young man through his work in the funeral business. Because of this and his experiences with death, not only of the aged and very young but also within his own age group, he understood the frailty of life. He could talk quite openly about death and naturally the subject of organ donation was raised. He expressed his fervent desire to register his intent and we had many long and meaningful discussions as a family over the dinner table. We were all in agreement that organ donation was a worthwhile and sensible step.

When the tragic event occurred, we had no doubts which course of action Steven would want us to take. The decision, at a time when you can barely function, was made simpler for us as a family because we had talked about the topic at length. We did not have to second-guess Steven’s wishes as we knew what they were. Thank goodness we had talked about organ donation with him.

His compassionate and unselfish gift has changed many lives. Not only the lives of his six recipients but also the lives of the many people who loved and cared for him.

Steven’s gift gave sight to a teenage girl and a middle-aged woman. He saved the life of the middle-aged mum liver recipient and the heart recipient of a middle-aged man. Of the two kidney recipients, one was a man in his early thirties and the other a middle-age family lady.

His gifts have made the difference to their lives as evidenced by the cards and letters we receive.

Years have passed and we have been kept up to date with the progress of the recipients. All remain well and happy. This is so very important to us.

It goes without saying that we are extremely proud of our son and the way in which he conducted his life as well as his death.

Take care.