WATCH ABOVE: What’s unique about his story is that his public relations team made the appeal for a live donor. About 500 people have stepped forward. Vassy Kapelos reports.
Hundreds of people have stepped forward offering Ottawa Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk their liver after the team owner made a public plea for a donor.
UPDATE: Eugene Melnyk undergoes successful transplant
Dr. Atul Humar, the director of the Multi Organ Transplant Program at Toronto General Hospital, said they’ve had a “huge response” to Melnyk’s urgent public appeal.
But is the response taking organs away from others? In fact, it’s probably doing the opposite.
James Breckenridge, the president of the Canadian Transplant Society, said in an interview Tuesday that he hopes some of the hundreds of people will sign up to help others. He noted the recent case of a family looking for donors for their twin girls – some of the hundreds of people who responded ended up donating to others as well.
“Perhaps maybe one of those would consider donating to someone else if they don’t get to donate to Mr. Melnyk, so from that point of view it’s a very positive in Canada,” he said.
“He’s also creating a lot of awareness for the fact that we do have a lack of organ donation in Canada.”
It’s normal for people to reach out on social media, Breckenridge said. People frequently take to Facebook and Twitter in search of a donor. But more often than not, they don’t have the reach Melnyk does.
And advocates working to increase the number of registered donors in Canada are hoping some of those volunteers will sign up as registered organ donors as well.
Canadians can register to become donors on beadonor.ca or cantransplant.ca.
The Senators announced Saturday that more than a dozen candidates have been identified and selected to go through the screening process. Melnyk, 55, has been battling health issues for months and was admitted to hospital in April due to complications.
WATCH: Doctor overseeing Eugene Melnyk comments on organ transplant search
He was reportedly reluctant to make a public plea, but his loved ones convinced him otherwise because none of his family members were good matches.
READ MORE: Canada’s organ donor rate lags behind other countries. How do you fix it?
“There are many people out there that have social media websites asking for help for a transplant. There’s a lot of people that ask their friends, their family, they do whatever they can to get media time,” Breckenridge said. “He’s just doing it on a little different scale, but he’s not doing anything different than a lot of people are doing right now.”
Breckenridge said he hopes Melnyk’s public appeal will inspire others to sign up as organ donors in Canada. Only 15 of every million Canadians – roughly 1 per cent – are signed up as organ donors – about half the number in Spain or the United States.
“People are dying all the time because they didn’t get an organ in time. And it’s an unfortunate thing, there’s no need for it,” Breckenridge said.
And there’s a growing list, 1,597 people as of April 23, who are waiting for organs.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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