MILDURA'S Emmie Scholar and Shane Dickeson are prime examples of the real impact choosing to become an organ donor can have.

If it weren't for the decisions to donate organs, it is likely two Sunraysia families would be facing a very different future.

Seven-year-old Emmie is the picture of health -- an active, ballet-loving, happy little girl -- but her introduction to the world was anything but happy.

Mum Bethany Scholar and grandmother and Member for Mallee Anne Webster said at just six weeks old Emmie was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a congenital liver defect that doesn't allow the liver to form properly.

"She was listed for transplant at nine months old and we were told then she had six months left to live," Mrs Scholar said.

"Right on the six-month mark, when she was 15 months old, we got a call that we had a match."

She said it was a bittersweet moment that filled the family with hope for Emmie's future, but also dread at the thought of what could go wrong.

"There's also the grief, because you know another family has lost someone that they love so that your child can live.

"I remember when we were teenagers, it was so normal to talk about organ donation and we'd say that's something we'd do.

"It's logical to me, it made perfect sense, never knowing in the future that it's something I would need for my child to live."

For Mr Dickeson, a gym instructor, organ donation was a matter of the second time lucky.

He underwent two double lung transplants after developing chronic lung disease as a result of cystic fibrosis.

"Everything was going well until five years down the track my body rejected one of the lungs and I found myself back on the transplant list," he said.

"In 2013 I was lucky enough to receive another double lung transplant and it's been seven years and everything is well and on track -- I'm living a normal life."

DonateLife Week, which ends on Sunday, is a time for reflection and encouragement, according to Mr Dickeson.

"In Australia we're world leaders in transplant and recovery and have the best doctors, surgeons and hospitals in the world but we just don't have the donors to match it.

"Emmie and I are just two of the success stories, we just need to get the (donor) numbers up so more people can have a chance."

Dr Webster, who along with Labor MP Mike Freelander created the Parliamentary Friends of Organ Donation group, said they were discussing whether Australia could follow in the steps of Spain, where residents had to opt out if they did not want their organs or tissue don...