We never thought it would happen to us.
It was October 2014 and we were camping up in the Brindabella Mountains on the NSW/ACT border, way out of mobile range, when a local tracked us down with a message.
“You need to call home. There’s an emergency.”
I drove to the top of the nearest hill to get reception and made a call.
“Bill’s had a bad accident in Narooma. He’s been airlifted to Canberra Hospital. It’s not good. You need to come home immediately.”
What was normally an hour-and-a-half drive, we did in an hour. I walked into a waiting room of the intensive care unit at Canberra Hospital, and the faces of my family there told the story before I had a chance to ask. Everyone was in tears, faces contorted with anguish and pain.
Our 26-year-old son Bill had sustained a massive head trauma when he came off his skateboard. He was in surgery to have part of his skull removed to try to alleviate the pressure from the bleeding around his brain. We would know in the next 24 hours if it worked.
The surgery didn’t help. Bill remained on life support. His chest moved up and down as if he was breathing, but it was the machine that was keeping him alive.
Our family was distraught. There was nothing I or anyone else could do.
Bill Spencer, who died at the age of 26, with his girlfriend Leigh. Source: Supplied
'Have you thought about organ donation?'
When it became clear to us that our Bill was not going to survive, we were ushered into a small meeting room at the side of the ICU area. “Have you thought of organ donation?” was a question thrown at us after the doctors and surgeons had given their report and prognosis of my boy.
My head sank into my hands. 'This is really happening!’ Life isn’t supposed to pan out this way. Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children.
Through the pain, fog of grief and anxious distress, the decision was surprisingly easy to make.
We asked ourselves, 'What would Bill want done?'
My son was the sort of person who would help anyone in need, and I mean anyone. No matter what age, colour or creed, his hand would go up and he would give assistance. His volunteer bush firefighting was a clear testimony to this fact.
If his organs were no longer of use to him, Bill would want to help others.
Around two weeks after a police-escorted ambulance had taken Bill’s organs to the airport to be flown to Sydney, my wife Linda turned on the television.
Could this be Bill's heart?
She had been praying that something good would come out of this nightmare. She watched a story about a man who had received a ‘dead heart transplant’. The man was in St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. All the dates lined up. Could this be Bill’s heart? Linda wrote to the man through St Vincent’s and received a letter back shortly after. We made some checks to confirm that the man had our son’s heart. It was him. We agreed to meet.
We travelled to Sydney and met at his house. With the aid of a stethoscope, I listened to my son’s heart beating in this man’s chest.
I cannot describe the emotions. I didn’t know whether to cry, laugh or get angry. I simply smiled, held the man’s hand and looked into his eyes. Bill had saved his life. This man had a young family, a wife and three children. They got to keep their dad and husband, because of my son.
Peter and Linda Spencer say meeting the recipients of their son's donated organs has helped them process his death. Source: Supplied
Seeing, talking, sharing emotions, and supporting each other has helped our grieving process immeasurably. To see the wonderful outcomes of the recipients puts a slight silver lining on a very dark cloud.
As well as donating his heart and lungs, Bill gave his kidneys, pancreas, liver and corneas. His organs did not just save five lives, they allowed families to keep their loved ones.
The organ donation gave them a second chance, something our Bill didn’t have. We wanted that for others.
Please visit our Facebook page, , where we try to raise awareness about organ donation and keep our son’s memory alive.
Watch “Transplant Breakthroughs” from Tuesday, 8.30pm on SBS On Demand.
If you would like to learn more about organ donations go to
