Sheridan Darroch was five weeks old when she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Growing up the youngest of three siblings, her family took the diagnosis in their stride. Hospital admissions became a routine part of life, medical staff became like family, and mostly, Sheridan got on with the business of being a kid.
“My childhood was amazing,” Sheridan, now aged 37, tells Women’s Agenda.
“My family and my doctors were really good at just making me do the normal things. It might have taken a bit more planning, and it might have taken a bit more recovery time, but there wasn’t a lot I missed out on.”
Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. It is a progressive disease, meaning it gets worse over time.
In her early 20s, Sheridan strived to get the most out of life despite experiencing periods of ill health. She studied a diploma of sport, landed a job in sports administration and prioritised travelling where she could.
But around 26, things began to shift. The times she spent in hospital grew longer and became more frequent. Then, during a trip to Canada in 2016, the altitude left her visibly struggling to breathe.
“I came back at the end of July, and that’s when it took a steep decline,” she recalls. “I’d go in [to hospital] for a couple of weeks, get out for maybe a week, and then I’d be sick enough to go back.”
By the end of that year, her doctors raised the possibility of a lung transplant. She was 27 and Sheridan recalls feeling shocked at the suggestion at first. But the doctors soon confirmed she only had two to three months to live without it.
“I remember the doctors coming in and saying, look, we do everything we can to make you as healthy as we can, but we think your body is getting pretty ready to need a transplant,” Sheridan says.
“[It] honestly came as quite a shock. I knew I was unwell, but I didn’t quite think I was at that point.”
After undergoing an assessment, Sheridan was put onto the transplant waitlist just before Christmas. She describes the days that followed as a “huge moment” for her family, who rallied around her and supported her through this uncertain period.
According to DonateLife, there are currently around 2,000 Australians like Sheridan on a transplant waitlist who are critically ill and urgently need a transplant.
“I remember the days after that, just not really being able to sleep… dreaming the phone was ringing,” she said.
A false call came first: lungs were found, she was transferred to the Prince Charles Hospital, tests were done but the transplant didn’t end up proceeding. It was back to waiting. About 10 days passed before another transplant was confirmed. She describes that time as a struggle.
“I barely made it out of my bed. I couldn’t walk 50 metres. I struggled to just sit and talk to my family, or even eat food, just trying to breathe at the same time. It was all quite a struggle, and I struggled mentally to know that I was that unwell,” she says.
“You’re hoping that call comes, but you also understand that someone has to pass for a call to come for you.”
A new lease on life
Sheridan remembers waking up from her lung transplant surgery in the ICU and immediately feeling “so ready to go and take on life”.
“I was ready to tackle recovery head on and do everything I could to look after myself and get out of there and go and grab life by the hands and just run with it,” she says.
Her recovery wasn’t all smooth sailing, but almost 10 years down the track, Sheridan is living life to the fullest. She’s working full time and last year welcomed a daughter into the world with her partner, a life event she describes as a life-long dream.
The power of organ donation
Anyone in Australia aged 16 and over can register as an organ and tissue donor. It only takes one minute but has the potential to change lives, just like it did for Sheridan. Thanks to the generosity of 557 deceased organ donors, 1,438 Australians received a life-saving organ transplant in 2025, according to DonateLife.
Sheridan often thinks about the family of her lung donor often, saying their decision to agree to donation completely changed her entire world.
“Being a donor, you have the opportunity under such horrible circumstances, but to completely change someone else’s world, their family’s world,” she says. “I wouldn’t be here without my donor.”
“These families allow their loved ones to donate their organs in amongst such horrible circumstances for themselves, but what an impact it can make on other people’s lives.”
Sheridan says she tries to approach each day with a positive mindset as a way to honour her donor and their loved ones.
“I think of that family often, in our daily life we think of them, and I try to live my everyday life to honor their loved one who gave me this chance. I try to be a good person and make them proud, both the family and the donor.”
Find out more about organ donation at donatelife.gov.au.
It only takes one minute to register as an organ and tissue donor at donatelife.gov.au or through Medicare. Then, tell your family you want to be a donor.