Brodie Cottam was just days from the surgery that would give part of her liver to baby daughter Addison Curry when she got a call saying a more suitable donor had been found.
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"About a week and a half before we got that call, the doctors had actually become really worried that Addy didn't have long to live," Ms Cottam said.
"So they sent me to the RPA in Sydney and I was tested to see if I was a match to donate part of my liver.
"Even though I wasn't a direct blood match, I was a size-compatible match, so basically they'd organised for my surgery from that date. I had about a week.
"Because we'd been waiting for so long and we'd heard nothing and Addy was deteriorating, it got to the point she was that sick we had no other options.
"So once my surgery was booked, I basically stopped waiting for that phone call. I was counting down the days until I was going to have part of my liver taken to be given to her.
"When we did get the phone call, it was extremely mixed emotions. I was obviously excited for Addy, I was relieved for her, I was upset for the donor family. It's an indescribable moment."
Addison was born with a rare condition called biliary atresia, which causes scarring and blocks bile ducts. When bile is unable to drain, it builds up and damages the liver.
"She was about seven weeks old when she was first diagnosed," Ms Cottam said.
"She was born with jaundice, but in the first stage it was just really normal baby jaundice. We did the usual: More feeds, sunlight and it didn't go away.
"We took her to the doctor when she was about six weeks old and she had some bloods done.
"The blood test came that her bilirubin levels were (a) a little bit too high and (b) they just wanted to do some further testing."
The Batlow family were sent to Wagga Base Hospital, where an ultrasound revealed Addison basically had fibrous tissue where her gall bladder should have been.
"Because, basically, her liver didn't work, she could never make bile properly, so bile never went into her gall bladder," Ms Cottam said.
Wagga paediatricians suspected biliary atresia, but it can only be diagnosed after a surgical procedure, which needed to be carried out at the Westmead Children's Hospital.
After being formally diagnosed, Addison underwent surgery at just eight weeks of age, but it did little to relieve her symptoms.
"We were pretty well told at eight weeks old that even if the surgery did work, she'd probably need a transplant before her first birthday because her liver was so severely scarred already at that early age," Ms Cottam said.
"The initial stage and diagnosis was probably the hardest part for me. Coming from a small rural town, being told you need to go to Westmead Children's Hospital is just absolutely mind-boggling. You know when you get sent to Sydney, especially from such a small rural area, that it's bad, basically.
"Pretty well once I got my head around it and mentally prepared for what we were looking at, we were OK."
After her initial diagnosis, Addison was prescribed multiple medications as doctors tried to delay her need to join the transplant waiting list for as long as possible.
Ms Cottam, her partner Mitchell Curry and son Liam were initially able to take Addison home to Batlow.
"We basically just travelled back and forth from Batlow to Sydney every week, every couple of weeks, until she was about four months old, and they did regular blood tests," Ms Cottam said.
"Over that period, her bilirubin levels had increased significantly. This is a level that is optimal at below 10 and she was well into the hundreds by this stage.
"Just before she was four months old, we went up for an appointment and they said she had deteriorated and needed to be placed on the waiting list.
"They made an appointment and we went back up and they spent a week just doing all kinds of tests and bloods and ultrasounds and we had heaps of meetings with specialists and the surgeons and the coordinators of the transplant waiting list. It was a very, very intense week.
"It was just information after information after information."
Ms Cottam was still on maternity leave, but it was a tough time for the family, especially as Liam had just started school.
"We were pretty well just trying to do what we could. Liam spent a lot of time between family, just staying the night while I was in Sydney with Addy or travelling to appointments," she said.
"We were placed on the waiting list when she was four months old and we were pretty much just sent home, had to keep our phones on us at all times and when they found a donor, they would give us a call and we would pack up and head to Sydney.
"So, we'd been on the waiting list for about a month and we went up for a check-up and Addy had deteriorated again and she was too sick at that point to leave, so she was admitted into hospital.
"We spent pretty well the whole time in hospital waiting from five months until she got a transplant at seven months."
For the family, learning a donated liver had been found for Addison was a time of complicated emotions, despite their overwhelming relief.
"You don't know how to feel about it," Ms Cottam said.
"It's not like it's just like a little surgery either. Sending Addy in when we knew it was her last hope - and knowing the complications around a liver transplant are absolutely phenomenal and we knew there was a chance we could have lost her in the surgery, it was ... you're excited, you're relieved, you're upset."
Addison has just celebrated the first anniversary of her July 7, 2018, surgery.
"She's doing amazingly. She's caught up with all her milestones. If you looked at her, you wouldn't know her background. You wouldn't know this kid was so sick.
"She's happy, she's bubbly, she's got personality and a half. She's going to eat this world alive."
Since the surgery, Ms Cottam has been able to send updates - stripped of personal information - to the family that made the decision to allow the donation of the liver that Addison received.
"I feel like saying 'thank you isn't enough' because they saved my daughter in one of the hardest times of their lives, when they were having to let someone go and say goodbye," Ms Cottam said.
"But it's the most selfless act that someone could do. Thanks just isn't ever going to cut it."
After her daughter's life was saved by a donor organ, Ms Cottam is keen to encourage others to consider donation.
"Please have that conversation with your family. Let your family know your wishes," she said.
"Your selfless acts can and will save other people's lives.
"It's the most selfless thing you can do for someone. Please just consider donating your organs. You can and will save other people's lives."
As of May 2019, there are 25,930 total registrations on the Australian Organ Donor Register from the Wagga area.
During DonateLife Week, NSW residents are being asked to register and discuss their decision with loved ones.
Every person who joins the Australian Organ Donor Register gives hope to the 1400 Australians and their families that are currently waiting for a life-saving or life-changing organ or tissue transplant.
Organ and tissue donation gives people needing a transplant a second chance at life, according to Elena Cavazzoni, the state medical director for the NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service.
"Registration is so important because it leaves families in no doubt of their loved one's wish to be an organ and tissue donor," said Dr Cavazzoni.
In Australia, families will always be asked to consent to donation. When a person is registered, 90 per cent of families honour the wishes of their loved ones.
"Registering is quick and easy at donatelife.gov.au. It takes less than a minute," said Dr Cavazzoni.
"Even if you are already registered, DonateLife Week is the perfect opportunity to reach out to others, whether it be friends, family or colleagues and encourage them to join the Australian Organ Donor Register too."