DonateLife Week - 'WHY WOULDN'T YOU HELP?'

BEX'S SON INSPIRED HER TO BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR

- By Emma Levett

Eight-year-old LJ 'Little James' Tipene was a ray of sunshine. He played rugby, loved drawing and was a star student. "He was the kid who'd give everything a go," his mum, Bex Trkulja, tells New Idea. He was kind too.

"LJ's favourite food was doughnuts, but he'd always check if anyone else wanted his last bite before he ate it," she says.

But under that cheery face, LJ was struggling with serious asthma.

Tragically, in 2022, LJ suddenly passed away. Amid their devastation, Bex and James, LJ's dad, were asked by nurses if they would consider organ donation.

"Me and his dad looked at each other and there was no discussion. We were 100 per cent yes. It was who LJ was," Bex, from NSW's Central Coast, says.

This DonateLife Week (July 27 - August 3), Bex is sharing her heartbreaking story in the hopes it encourages others to sign up to become organ donors.