But thanks to a family organ donation discussion, her choice was much easier.

Mrs Linnane’s son Luke was just 18 when he died 15 years ago in a car accident near Townsville, while her husband Tony died last year, aged 54, from a brain aneurysm.

Both donated all or most of their organs, with a kidney recipient from each still staying in touch with Mrs Linnane.

“I’m so glad we had that conversation. If you don’t know, it must be horrendous,” she said.

“It’s the absolutely worst day of your life, but at least we didn’t have to think about it. I don’t think it was a difficult decision at all.”

Mrs Linnane credits a chance hospital meeting 17 years ago with inspiring the organ donation chat.

She was sharing a room with a liver transplant recipient, who had spent the 12 months before the donation extremely ill and with no quality of life.

“I went home and thought ‘that’s a good idea’,” Mrs Linnane said.

She sat down with Tony and her five boys, then aged 20, 18, 16, 3 and 2, and discussed the idea.

“Eighteen months later, my 18-year-old son (Luke) was involved in a road trauma and was placed on life support,” Mrs Linnane said.

“But we knew what Luke wanted.”

His heart and kidneys were donated and his liver was cut down for use by a child and an adult.

“Every anniversary, I get a letter from the kidney recipient,” Mrs Linnane said.

Last year she discovered her husband sitting motionless on their Black Hill front verandah, though he was mumbling slightly. 

He then stopped breathing and his wife, a nurse, did CPR until an ambulance arrived but a CT scan showed a massive brain bleed.

After consulting his six siblings, Mrs Linnane  decided to also donate all of her husband’s organs.

“There was such a difference in the 15 years.

“It’s hard for the doctors who have to bring up organ donation but the co-ordinator makes it very easy.

“His (her husband) kidney recipient has just had her 21st birthday and I got a letter from her and from her grandmother. 

“Her grandfather had donated a kidney but it didn’t take.”

Due to strict criteria, only about 1 per cent of people who die in hospitals are eligible to donate their organs, but Ballarat Health Services organ donation nurse Jo Forteath said 60 per cent of those families had consented in Ballarat.

“I started doing this job in November 2009 and there had been 10 organ donors in the 20 years before that.

“I’m in my sixth year and we’ve probably got that number already.”

Ms Forteath is always on call to help families with information and support, and also speaks to several community groups.

Last year, Victoria set a national organ donation record, with 117 people donating 369 organs. This helped 352 Australians in 2014, up 23 per cent on the previous year.

However, organ donation across the nation was down, from 391 to 378.

State Health Minister Jill Hennessy said organ donation was a precious gift.

“It is so important that donors not just register but that they also convey their wishes to their families,” Ms Hennessy said.

DonateLife Victoria state medical director Dr Helen Opdam said more than 1600 Australians were on organ transplant waiting lists at any time.

For information, go to donatelife.gov.au.

fiona.henderson@fairfaxmedia.com.au