Aubin Grove mother Aurora Molina shares emotional story after generous transplant donor saves son Seb’s life

When five-year-old Sebastian Molina started school at Aubin Grove Primary School this year, he was like most students — happy, go-lucky and keen to learn. His classmates did not know his incredible survival story. The pre-schoolers future was uncertain in 2018 and if it wasn’t for a lifesaving transplant of a liver donated by a stranger, little Sebastian’s life would have been cut short. “Seb is still too young to understand everything he went through,” his mum Aurora Molina said. “But every night we light up a candle for our donor and he (Sebastian) will always say ‘good night and thank you, big brother’.” The Molinas are one of many stories to be told at next month’s World Transplant Games. It will be the first time the Games have been held in Perth, bringing together more than 60 nations and 2500 organ donors and recipients to compete. It will also promote the positive message of the lives saved and encourage people to sign up with the Australian Organ Donor Register. “A lot of families like us have no idea this registry exists, so it’s really important that people know they can register their interest to be organ donors,” Mrs Molina said. Sebastian was the first child of Aurora and Paul Molina, who emigrated from the Philippines to Perth for work in 2007 during the boom in the mining industry. An ultrasound when Mrs Molina was 20 weeks pregnant revealed Sebastian’s heart was missing a vein. As a result, his blood flow was bypassing his liver. This resulted in his heart becoming larger than normal, though doctors said it wasn’t a problem while he was still in the womb. A year after a premature but relatively healthy birth, Sebastian’s stomach ballooned. While paediatricians claimed it was “normal”, the Molinas pushed for an ultrasound. “It was like the size of a small basketball,” Mrs Molina said. Doctors discovered a massive lump on Sebastian’s liver and an immediate lifesaving procedure was needed to remove it. But this could be done only on the other side of the country at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney. “ICU doctors were in hope that a transplant would not be needed after they removed a bulk of his left liver,” Mrs Molina said. But as Sebastian’s condition worsened, there was no choice. “I remembered it happened so quickly as after we heard the news we were told to go for tests to see whether we were viable donors,” his mother said. “Did I think twice? Definitely not. It was like a battle between my husband and I on who will give up our liver.” Then at the last minute, a miracle happened. “We were not expecting that we would get a donor, so when we got the call we were really happy . . . and grateful,” Mrs Molina said. Today Sebastian is now enjoying a love for numbers, counting and building blocks. “I like playing with toys, eating, sitting on the mat playing games and dancing and painting,” he said. Three-year-old sister Matilda said she looks forward to her afternoons each day so she can have someone to run around with and go down the slide at the local park. “Sebastian is not only my older brother but also my best friend. I don’t mind sharing my favourite puppy plushies with him!” she said. Transplant Australia CEO Chris Thomas said more than 1800 Australians were waiting for a transplant. “Every Australian can make a difference by registering as a donor. It takes just one minute but has the potential to give someone years of extra life,” he said.