EDMONTON – Alberta has the lowest rate of organ and tissue donation in Canada, but recipients and donors’ families are fighting to raise awareness and boost donations.
“My son, he was a great kid,” shares Sylvia Flannigan. “Very, very athletic, very personable, he had a great personality. Many, many people would say to me ‘if you had a problem go to Lee’ because he always listened. He was such a giving kid.”
Lee took his own life April 27, 2009. But, even after his death, he was still giving.
“The police officer that came to our home that night asked us if we would consider tissue donation from Lee because he had already passed away, and we said ‘absolutely.’”
“As of today, he has helped 19 people,” Flannigan adds. “It absolutely brings me joy… his basically lives on in others.”
Flannigan finds peace in her son’s gift, but is worried that people don’t know enough about tissue donation, and therefore, might miss a similar opportunity.
“I always knew about organ donation, but I really didn’t know about tissue donation, but I said yes.”
In order for a person to become an organ donor, blood and oxygen must flow through the organs until the time the organs are recovered. Tissue can still be donated after the heart and lungs have stopped working.
“What happens if that police officer hadn’t stepped out of his comfort zone that night?”
“My son wouldn’t have enhanced – or even saved – the lives of 19 people. One of those happened to be a little two-year-old baby that was burned, and Lee’s skin was used to cover his burns.”
Flannigan feels there is “absolutely” not enough awareness about organ and tissue donation.
“Please, please, please talk to your family. I can go out and I can educate everybody about what to do, but you need to talk to your family… they have to ask your family for consent to do the donation.”
The Canadian National Transplant Research Program is also looking at ways to increase Alberta’s donation rate.
“Alberta has fallen from roughly 18 or 19 per million population to less than ten per population,” explains Lori West, director of the CNTRP, “whereas many of the other provinces in the country have increased their organ donation rates.”
“The reasons for this are not entirely clear, but we believe that they may have to do with the organizational aspects of the donation system in Alberta,” West says.
This past spring, Alberta MLA Len Webber introduced Bill 207 in the hopes of creating a provincial donation registry.
West believes that is one step that would help boost donation rates across the province. She also says an educational campaign to raise awareness among the public as well as healthcare workers, and an online organ and tissue registry would help.
“We think that this could have a major impact on bringing Alberta back up to where it should be in terms of organ and tissue donation.”
For more information on organ and tissue donation and to find out how to register as a donor, click here.
Deceased Organ Donor rates across Canada in 2012:
Canada Total: 827
BC: 130
Alberta: 81
Sask: 6
Man: 26
Ont: 422
Que: 120
Atlantic: 120
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