Barry McNally, Josh Melleuish, Maddie Wilcox, Marcus Adamson and Charise Morris are all here because a stranger chose to donate their organs.

Each of them had a different journey to their organ transplant, but they are united in calling for more people to become donors.

"You're going into the ground, or you're going to be cremated - you don't need them," Barry said.

"Why not save somebody else's life?"

Barry, of North Nowra, needed a double lung transplant after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis four years ago.

After twelve months on the wait list, he was in a wheelchair and using two oxygen machines at home.

He and his wife, Rhonda, didn't think he'd see Christmas.

"You never know when that call is going to come, or if it's going to come at all," he said.

"You have to have your bag packed and ready to go all the time."

READ MORE: You never stop thinking about the donor and the family

Just after midnight in August, 2016, he got the call. He and Rhonda jumped in the car, dropped off the dog, made the trip to Sydney and hoped.

The day after the transplant, Rhonda was shocked to see Barry out of bed, doing squats with the physio.

Since, they've been to Thailand and Europe, and despite some discomfort, and check ups multiple times per week, life has returned to a semblance of normalcy.

"It's excellent," Barry said.

Josh Melleuish, of Culburra, and Maddie Wilcox, of North Nowra, are both in their 20s, and alive because of double lung transplants.

Both Josh and Maddie were diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as children.

"All the doctors know if you have CF, there will come a time when you need a transplant," Josh said.

"They usually decide to start talking to you about it when you transition from kids to adults hospital and become more ill, at about 17."

READ MORE: Young people urged to become organ donors

He said the idea of needing a transplant wasn't an easy one to get used to.

"It was hard to swallow, when they first started talking about it," he said.

"You don't want to believe it, but as you get sicker you realise it's your only path."

Maddie was "nearly off the radar" when she was told a viable pair of lungs were available for her.

"My lung collapsed when I was about 22," she said.

"I was at the shopping center and just did a cough - I had to go to hospital and they found my lung had dropped halfway.

"I was at the end stage. They put me to the top of every list in Australia and New Zealand. I was in hospital for three or four months, I could barely sit up in bed.

"On Valentines Day a doctor came to my bedside and said they had a perfect pair of lungs for me.

"The surgery took about ten hours, then I woke up and had a perfect pair of lungs."

Both Josh and Maddie are ecstatic to have a second chance at life as a result of organ donation.

"Life is very good post-transplant," Josh said.

Maddie agreed.

"It does feel like a miracle," she said.

"I'm very lucky that now I'm happy and healthy. I can actually go walking and running and can work."

Marcus Adamson, of Culburra, and Charise Morris, of Nowra, faced a life on dialysis without a kidney transplant.

Marcus was born with a genetic condition that caused his kidneys to become deformed.

Before it was removed, his left kidney weighed 11kg, and was putting pressure on his heart.

"I didn't care about dialysis at that point," he said.

"I was having so many hospitalisations and in so much pain, and it was becoming a risk to my life.

"They took it out, and that put me straight into full renal failure."

Marcus spent years on dialysis before receiving the call he had been waiting for.

"I was out fishing with my daughter and a friend when the phone rang," he said.

"I basically walked on water and we were up there that night."

He said there was "no comparison," between life post-transplant and life on dialysis.

Charise agreed.

"Anyone who says dialysis is a life hasn't had it," Charise said.

"It keeps you alive, but that's about it."

Charise was born with nephrotic syndrome, and has had two kidney transplants - one was donated by her mother, and the other by her stepfather.

"It's an amazing gift," she said.

"My stepdad said if he had another kidney, he'd give it again.

"I was on the list for a very long time.

"You're just sitting and waiting for life to happen.

"Easter didn't mean chocolate for me - it meant waiting for the phone to ring, because, sadly, public holidays are when most transplants happen."

Charise said it was important for would-be donors to inform their family about their wishes, as well as register.

"Often in the moment, the family is so traumatised they can't make a decision," she said.

"But it gives someone a life again - it's an amazing gift."