'Just do it': Mums' plea for change to organ donor registration process

There's a part of Emma Stevens and Gill Klemich that probably wishes they never met.

They share a heartbreaking yet beautiful bond - their sons Charlie and Jack both died suddenly when they were just 18.

Charlie Stevens - the son of South Australia's Police Commissioner Grant Stevens - was killed after a hit-run crash during Schoolies celebrations in 2023.

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Jack Klemich passed away in 2009 after contracting meningococcal B.

The boys didn't know each other but they share a special bond, too.

They both registered to become organ donors - a step made very simple in South Australia - and have since saved 11 lives between them.

Now, their mothers hope their legacy can save many more.

Tough decision made easier

"You never think you're going to have to go down that path," Emma told A Current Affair.

"But because Charlie [ticked] that box, it made it so much easier for Grant and I and our children."

Charlie and Jack became organ donors when they were filling out their driver's licence forms.

South Australia is the only state where you can register to be an organ donor via your driver's licence - something Emma and Gill can't quite wrap their heads around.

"I cannot understand it," Gill said.

"What better way is there to get through to everybody than have it on the driver's licence?"

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The numbers speak for themselves. South Australia has the highest organ donor registration rate in the country at 74 per cent.

That compares to 41 per cent in New South Wales, 31 per cent in Queensland and just 23 per cent in Victoria.

As a donor's wishes aren't legally binding it's ultimately up to families to make the decision .

Gill says having the question on driver's licence forms prompts the important conversation.

"When would we have ever said to our children 'okay, we're going to have a discussion about organ donation'?" Gill asked.

"It just wouldn't have come up."

A lasting legacy

Seven people are still alive today thanks to Charlie. Jack has helped save four.

"We got a letter from Jack's liver recipient, who was a young boy as well, and he said 'your boy saved my life'," Gill said.

"We often think of him living his life out there."

"I sometimes think about some of these people that have got a bit of Charlie in there and I laugh and think, oh gosh! You'll be ok!" Emma laughed.

A Current Affair host Ally Langdon knows just how grateful recipient families are.

Her sister, Kristen, is alive today because of a donor.

"She has a new pancreas and a kidney," Ally shared.

"We celebrate and honour her donor; every year we've written letters."

Emma says stories like Ally's are exactly why they're still fighting.

"That's why our boys have chosen to do it [and] we've gone along with their wishes, because you've still got your sister."

More lives could be saved, the mothers say, if state health ministers follow in South Australia's footsteps.

"Just do it," Gill said.

"I know there's red tape, but surely with the evidence right in front of your face, I would say it's very easy to make that decision."

To become an organ donor you can:

• Register via your Medicare online account,
• Fill out the online form on the DonateLife website
• Print & fill out the Australian Organ Donor Register form from Services Australia, or
• Call the Australian Organ Donor Register on 1800 777 203.