When Shawn Anderson, Research Scientist at VGH’s Prostate Centre, first got the call from the BC Transplant program that his best friend’s donor kidney failed and that testing was open to those willing to be a potential living organ donor, he didn’t quite know what to expect. He was one of many family and friends who volunteered to get tested and help find a match for a new kidney.

“When your best friend is really sick and tells you he is going to die you don’t think about yourself. Any worry I had about the surgery went out the window. I may be in discomfort for a short period but I am giving life – not just me but modern medicine,” said Shawn.

New VCH supports for living organ donors

Shawn hasn’t looked back since. After getting the news this past summer that he was a closer match to Edward than his friend’s own sister, he went to his manager and HR to get approval for a leave of absence. “Everyone at VCH and Providence was so supportive and worked on this immediately to help make this possible,” he said. “The staff at the Kidney Pre-Transplant Program at St. Paul’s Hospital were amazing and made this entire process incredibly painless.” Shawn’s story touched the hearts of many and a new ‘Organ Donor Special Leave policy’ that was under developed by HR was approved immediately to ensure Shawn and other VCH staff who volunteer to be living organ donors are protected from financial hardship.

Under the new policy, VCH employees who are assessed and become a living organ donor are eligible for a maximum of eight weeks of paid leave for their surgery and recovery.

The facts

Shawn said he has learned so much about what it means to be a living organ donor from the physicians and staff at VGH. “It’s a lot easier of a process than many people think and working right at VGH made it even easier,” he said. Dr. David Landsberg, Physician Program Director & Head of the Renal Program said that because of the very comprehensive testing and rigid acceptance criteria, living donation is very safe and donors can expect to live as long as other healthy people. “The actual surgical risk is 3 in 10,000. The risk of future kidney failure may be higher than healthy people with two kidneys but it is still very low. A recent study puts that risk at 15 in 10,000 at 15 years post donation,” said Dr. Landsberg.

Shawn bravely shared his story with us before going into surgery on November 3. Thank you for reminding us that the gift of life is the greatest gift of all. For more information on becoming an organ donor, please visit the BC Transplant website.