It's the little things that remind Hunter resident Victoria McGee of the value of organ donors.
"A lot of people strive for big things post-transplant to make it count, but for me it's actually the little things," said Ms McGee, a country music singer.
Before her heart transplant in May 2019, she was told she had 18 months to live.
"I couldn't walk down the beach to get to the edge of the water," she said.
"The first time I walked down the beach and swam in the water, I sat and cried. That was the moment I went 'how grateful am I for you [her organ donor]'."
It's DonateLife Week, which urges more people to be organ donors.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said NSW had "the highest rate of registrations on the Australian organ donor registry".
"But opportunities for transplants are often missed because families are uncertain of their loved one's wish to be a donor," Mr Park said.
"Organ donation saves lives and increasing awareness and consent is critical to lifting our donation rate."
About 1800 people are on the organ waitlist in Australia.
"We need more Australians to register," he said.
Australian Organ Donor Register data shows Lake Macquarie, with a score of 57 per cent, is in the top five local government areas in NSW with the most people registered as donors.
Mr Park said 54,769 NSW residents registered as organ and tissue donors last year, bringing the total number registered to 2.7 million.
"Around 42 per cent of the NSW population has registered to be a donor, well above the national average of 36 per cent."
In Australia, families are "always asked to support someone's decision to be a donor before donation goes ahead".
He said families were "much more likely to agree" if they knew their loved one wanted to be a donor and was registered.
Ms McGee, who runs a national support group called Together in Transplant, says the waiting list for transplants is "quite long".
"I'm seeing patients waiting a lot longer than I did before," she said.
"I'm seeing more and more people waiting for 12 to 18 months. The bigger waits are mainly for hearts and lungs."
Ms McGee is among those most vulnerable to COVID, as her immune system is compromised. She contracted it for the first time this year.
"At first I thought 'this is bad, but not too bad'," she said.
"I tested positive for five weeks. It ebbed and flowed. About four weeks in, I thought I'm in serious trouble.
"It attacked my lungs pretty savagely. I ended up in St Vincent's in Sydney in May."
She was given the antiviral drug remdesivir, which "finally got it out of my system".
"And I was on massive doses of steroids. It was the hardest I've fought since transplant to survive."
She was in hospital for just over a week, but was on "massive amounts of medication [dexamethasone and antibiotics] for weeks.
"It's been a long road back."
