L to R: Liver recipient Susan Harrison meets Carol Powell and her daughter Katie, 24, who donated her liver to her brother Mitch last year.
A record-setting 306 organs were transplanted in 2012, marking a new beginning for many patients who were on the BC transplant wait list.
The waiting period for many was also significantly shorter than previous years, thanks to the province’s many transplant donors and innovations in BC’s transplant process.
At age 24, Katie Powell knows the value of organ donation.
“Donating 60 per cent of my liver to my younger brother, Mitch, on June 11, 2012 was the right thing to do. It was life or death, and I would hope someone would do the same for me if I was ever in that situation.”
Stats for the 2012 year include:
- Total transplants – 306 – the previous record was 295 in 2010
- Lung transplants – 25 – the previous record was 16 in 2010
- Liver transplants – 65 (58 deceased donors, 7 living donors) – the previous record was 56 in 2011
- Kidney transplants – 194 (111 deceased donors, 83 living donors)
- Pancreas/Kidney, Pancreas, Pancreas Islet – 6
- Heart – 16
- VGH Transplant Centre – 168 transplants – the previous record was 160 in 2011
- St Paul’s Transplant Centre – 131 transplants – the previous record was 115 in 2011
- Living donors – 90
- Deceased donors – 70 (56 in 2011)
In a news release, Dr. Greg Grant, provincial executive director, BC Transplant said: “We’re heading in the right direction. The work we’ve been doing in creating new roles to support the donation process within the hospitals and working closely with our partners at the transplant centres is making a difference. To see the number of deceased donors increase is very humbling, as each one of those cases represents a tremendous loss for a family and yet a gift of life for many others.”
BC’s donors-per-million rate for 2012 now exceeds the national average, for both living donors (in BC, there are 19.6 donors per million and in Canada, there are 16.3) and deceased donors (in BC, there are 15.2 and in Canada there are 13.6).
However, despite these positive numbers, 18 British Columbians died while on the wait list in 2012. Approximately 480 people in BC are currently waiting for a life-saving transplant.
Register to be an organ donor at www.transplant.bc.ca – 85 per cent of British Columbians agree with organ donation, yet only 18 per cent have registered their decision.
For more information, read the news release.