| Invocare Chief Executive Officer Richard Davis and UOW Vice-Chancello... Invocare Chief Executive Officer Richard Davis and UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton unveil the plaque in the Body Donation Program memorial garden at Lakeside Memorial Park | 
| (From left to right) UOW graduate Anna Harris and Body Donation Progr... (From left to right) UOW graduate Anna Harris and Body Donation Program Coordinator Darryl McAndrew with Dr Winifred Ward, a Fellow of the University who was one of the first people to register with the program | 
| Student representatives Helen Freeborn and Domonic Manassa plant a sh... Student representatives Helen Freeborn and Domonic Manassa plant a shrub in the memorial garden at Lakeside Memorial Park |
Memorial garden acknowledges body donors
8 Oct 2007 | Nick Hartgerink
The University of Wollongong paid tribute to participants of its Body Donation Program with a Ceremony of Appreciation and the inauguration of a memorial garden at Lakeside Memorial Park today (8 October).
UOW launched the program in 2006 because of increasing demand for anatomy studies with the opening of the Graduate School of Medicine earlier this year. Program coordinator Darryl McAndrew told attendees that already 27 people have donated their bodies for medical science research while a further 146 have joined the register.
“This has been a wonderful response, and without this kind of support we couldn’t operate,” Mr McAndrew said.
Speaking at the Ceremony, which was attended by the families of donors and those who have joined the program, UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton said the University was deeply grateful to the people who made the decision to join the register, and their families who supported them.
“We understand this is a most difficult decision …. for individuals and their families,” Professor Sutton said. “In fact there can be no more generous donation.
“It is simply not possible to produce first class health professionals without these donations.
“So you will make a difference. It is an important contribution to the training of the next generations of doctors and other health professionals and leaves a legacy to your children, your grandchildren and the community generally.”
Professor Sutton assured donors and their families that an over-riding issue for the University was that body donations be treated with dignity and respect at all times.
This point was reinforced by recent Medical Sciences graduate Anna Harris, who spoke on behalf of students who study in the UOW Anatomy Laboratory. She said how much students appreciated the opportunity to study human tissue rather than models and respected the donors who had made that possible.
“There are really no words to express my gratitude to the donors and their families and friends who have made it possible,” she said.
Professor Sutton and Invocare Australia Chief executive Officer Richard Davis unveiled a plaque in the memorial garden that Lakeside Memorial Park has donated to the program.
Mr Davis, whose company operates Lakeside, said he couldn’t imagine a more worthwhile cause. “This memorial garden is an acknowledgement of this special gift, but we are hope it will be reminder for people of happier times, or the good times they shared with their loved ones,” he said.
Student representatives Domonic Manessa and Helen Freeborn planted a Brunfelsia pauciflora bush in the garden. This bush, which has beautiful purple flowers that fade to white as they age, has a common name of Yestereday, Today and Tomorrow – an appropriate symbol for a garden that honours people who have donated their bodies for the advancement of medical science for the benefit of future generations.
Among the attendees at the ceremony was Dr Winifred Ward, 87, who was one of the first people to join the register when the Body Donation program opened in 2006. She is also one of the Program’s most enthusiastic supports.“The University of Wollongong is very precious to me,” said Dr Ward, who gained her PhD in 1999, who achieved a life-long ambition to study at university when she enrolled as a mature age student in 1979 after the death of her husband.
For more information on the Body Donation program, contact Darryl McAndrew on (02) 4221 5143.
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