Parents urge reform after daughter couldn't donate organs due to death definition

Sydney parents say their daughter Sheridan could not donate her organs because she kept breathing after life support was withdrawn, highlighting limits of Australia's legal definition of death.

Sheridan Apter, a 35-year-old from Sydney, experienced catastrophic brain damage after being found unconscious and was admitted to St George Hospital's intensive care unit. Her parents, John and Anne Apter, arranged for organ donation, but after life-support removal she maintained a heartbeat and respiration for four hours, rendering her organs unsuitable for transplantation. Medical authorities note that Australia's legal definition of death—requiring irreversible cessation of blood circulation—precludes the use of normothermic regional perfusion, a technique employed abroad to keep organs viable.

The Australian Law Reform Commission is set to deliver a report on redefining death to the Attorney-General in August, which could open the door to such technologies. The Apters are calling for a national conversation on updating the law to allow more donors like their daughter to contribute. While Sheridan's corneas were successfully transplanted, her family continues to advocate for organ-donation reforms during DonateLife week.