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Tributes flow for Canberra organ donation advocate Matt Taylor

When Matt Taylor was denied a potentially life-saving lung transplant last year, he knew he had limited time left to make a difference.

The 27-year-old planned to travel the country with wife and fellow photographer Mallie, capturing free family portraits of Australians touched by organ donation.

Their goal was to put a human face to the effect of Australia's relatively low donor registration numbers on those either waiting, or rejected, for an organ transplant.

Before they could launch their "Donate Life for Mattalie" plan, however, Matt's condition deteriorated.

He died at his Downer house in Mallie's arms on April 5 after fighting a lung infection, leaving behind hundreds of supporters determined to continue his legacy.

At his funeral, Matt was remembered as a generous, caring and fun-loving man who was also passionate about ensuring opportunities for other people that he was denied.

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Mallie said she would continue the project in accordance with Matt's wishes.

"My goal is to carry on the legacy that he started," she said.

"I had well over 100 people from here, the US, the UK, message to say that because of his story, they'd decided to sign up and be organ donors."

The day before Matt died, the couple had their own set of family portraits taken by friend and Mallie's employer Mel Hill.

Mallie said she planned to create a photo book from the results, in order to sponsor future photo sessions with families.

The last fortnight had been so hard, she said, because she had spent nearly every moment with Matt since she moved from her native Texas to be with him.

"We just made everything special, from going out to eat and arguing about where to eat, to when we did photos together," she said.

"We'd often go for a drive on clear nights to find a place where we could shoot a Milky Way. But sometimes we didn't even stop, we just drove around for hours, talking."

By publishing their tragic circumstances and those of other Australians in similar situations, Mallie said she hoped such stories would not be experienced by other families in the future.

She urged people to register as organ donors in order to allow doctors to approve transplants for a wider range of patients.

"Make sure you're an organ donor, make sure you tell your family you're an organ donor because here in Australia your family can veto it," she said.

"If they know anyone who's affected, keep them in contact with me so I can document their story."

According to the federal government's DonateLife initiative, a record 1447 Australians received life-saving transplants in 2016, a 17 per cent increase over 2015's figures.

About 1400 Australians are on the waiting list for an organ transplant at any one time.