In death, as in life, Ben Wiseman is an angel.
This picture of the young man dressed as an angel for a friend's party in 2000, cradled by his parents Marguerite and Laurie, proved portentous.
The year after it was taken Mr Wiseman died, aged just 23, after complications stemming from his epilepsy.
But his organs helped save the lives of five other people, and now his parents are encouraging Australians to follow in their son's steps and become a donor.
Crucially the Monash couple want families to talk through the issues, just as they did with their boy years ago.
On February 22, the Wisemans will be among hundreds of Canberrans walking around Lake Burley Griffin to support organ and tissue donation.
About 1600 people across the nation are on organ waiting lists; on average they can expect to wait between six months and years.
And it's estimated less than 60 per cent of families consent to the donation of their loved one's organs and tissue.
''There's a greater chance of you needing an organ than you donating one,'' Mrs Wiseman said.
This year's DonateLife walk aims to encourage families to talk about donation so when the time comes the dying person's wishes are respected.
''Even if they are on the register the family can override their wish - and that happens quite a lot in hospital,'' Mrs Wiseman said.
The mother and father sat down and talked it over when Ben was in his early teens.
''Obviously we'd always talked about it in the context of us going before him,'' Mr Wiseman said.
But Ben worked in the aged-care sector and ''could see that there would be benefits for others'', his dad said.
People languishing on the organ donor lists received Ben's heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and corneas; his pancreas went to researchers.
Within a few months of Ben's passing his parents received a letter from the person who got their son's heart, saying thanks to Ben the recipient could watch their grandchild grow.
''It was just nice to get the letter, to know that it has changed someone's life,'' Mr Wiseman said.
The DonateLife walk starts from Regatta point at 6.45am on February 22, visit www.giftoflife.asn.au.
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