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NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service communications manager Kerry McKay said 1770 people were on the Australian waiting list for an organ as of January 4, adding there was a need to increase the number of donors.

“There is always a great need across the State,” she said. “The number of donors needs to increase. We have a large population in NSW, therefore we have a lot of people on the waiting list.”

There were 16,029 Eurobodalla people on the registered donor list in December last year - about 100 more than in 2008.

With the shire’s population estimated at 38,000 last year, this meant that about 42 per cent of locals were registered donors.

Eurobodalla Renal Support Group founder and coordinator and local organ recipient Brad Rossiter said there was a great response from people registering themselves on the donor list in the area, however, when it comes to the time of donation, it’s up to the family to authorise it.

“A lot of people are nervous when it comes to organ donation,” he said. “That’s why it’s vitally important to talk to your family about it, and tell them that’s what you want to do if it comes to that situation.”

While the zero figure of donors in the area may be surprising, only the one per cent of people who die as a result of being “brain dead” are able to be organ donors, according to Kidney Health Australia.

“You don’t transplant dead organs. You have to be kept artificially alive,” Mr Rossiter said.

“Not everyone can be a recipient either. You have to be healthy enough to receive a transplant.”

In 2007 Mr Rossiter received a pancreas and a kidney from a donor in Western Australia, after being on the waiting list for seven years.

He said this experience motivated him to promote the need for organ donors in Batemans Bay. Mr Rossiter raises organ donor and transplant awareness in Bridge Plaza a few days a week.

“If you’re sitting on dialysis for 15 hours a week for seven years, you’d want to raise awareness,” he said.

“If you do happen to become an organ donor, you could save a life like mine.”

There are about 1310 people currently on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, which Mr Rossiter said included about 10 Moruya people that he knew of.

“There would also have to be people in the area waiting on other transplants such as a heart or a liver.”