Marit Cup honours memory of young organ donor

CALGARY- More than 600 teachers and students hit the ice at Winsport Wednesday to raise money and awareness about organ donation, in memory of a young donor.

Calgary Christian School hosted the second annual Marit Cup, in honour of Marit McKenzie, a CCS alum.  Mckenzie’s organs helped six other Canadians after she died in January 2013 from a blood clot in her lung.

Organ donation is a critical issue for Alberta, which used to be the leading province in organ donation, but has fallen to last in the last decade.   There are now only 10 donations a year for every million people. National numbers are better, but still relatively low.

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“The unfortunate part is there’s only 14% of Canadians that are actually registered organ donors.  That’s really sad to see.  In many developing countries that number is far greater,” says Mike Ravenhill, CEO of the David Foster Foundation.  The Foundation, created by music mogul Foster, financially supports families of children on the transplant list so they can focus on their kids.

Changes announced last fall by the Alberta government offer hope donation numbers will improve.  Within three to five years, Albertans will be able to make their wishes official through an online registry, or when they renew their drivers’ licence or other ID.  Similar consent-to-donate registries boosted organ donation in Ontario, Manitoba and BC.

The CCS students skated against their teachers in support of the David Foster Foundation.

The money they raised will also fund a scholarship in Marit’s honour.

One of the guests of honour at the Marit Cup is a transplant recipient himself.  10 year old Darren Loutit nearly died from a disease that causes inflammation and blockage of the bile ducts in his liver.

“One day I woke up, my eyes were yellow, they were hurting, we went to the hospital,” says Loutit.

Three years ago, he received a new liver, and is now unstoppable.  The young athlete even competes in the Transplant Games, a kind of Olympics for organ recipients.