SASKATOON – Over the last decade, the number of Canadians waiting for a new organ has been higher than the actual number of transplants performed. While the majority of Canadians support organ donation, that doesn’t always translate into donors.
One Saskatoon man though may change your mind about registering as a donor and letting your family know your intentions. On Sunday, 46-year-old Shawn Deagnon will celebrate his second shot at life after getting a new set of lungs exactly 10 years ago.
“I haven’t stopped since and I don’t plan to either.”
WATCH: Mother sobs upon hearing her son’s heartbeat in someone else’s chest
Deagnon’s surgery was performed in Edmonton at University of Alberta Hospital where patients are still sent to this day for double-lung transplants. He was diagnosed four months earlier with a disease that causes blood clots in the lungs.
“I think the biggest fear I had was when they were actually wheeling me into the operating room,” said Deagnon
“That was probably the scariest part right there. waking up that was the most incredible experience because I felt like a million dollars.”
He would have to stay in Edmonton for three months post-surgery so health care providers could monitor him and Deagnon said through it all his son and his high school sweetheart, whom he made his wife, were there to support him.
What makes the anniversary even more special is every April 10, the day Deagnon says he was reborn, is also his younger brother’s birthday.
“So it’s kinda worked kinda cool, really cool actually.”
It’s a milestone doctors say is worth celebrating and that at any given time there are roughly 10 people in Saskatchewan waiting for a lung transplant.
“Double-lung transplant is the most common lung transplant that’s done, ” said Dr. Mark Fenton, transplant respirologist with the University of Saskatchewan.
“Single lung transplant does happen but generally it’s double lung in part related to better survival associated with double lung versus single lung.”
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2,433 solid organs were transplanted in Canada in 2014:
- Kidneys: 1,430
- Livers: 537
- Hearts: 161
- Pancreases: 79
Of the more than 2,400 organs transplanted, 226 were lungs and in that same year there were 1,631 Canadians were living with a transplanted lung. But many people aren’t that lucky.
“Unfortunately, people dying wait for a lung transplant and that’s mainly related to a lack of donors,” added Fenton.
In 2014, by year’s end the demand for organs far outweighed supply. More than 45 hundred Canadians were still waiting for a phone call telling them some good news.
As a survivor, Deagnon says there are still has a few things he needs to do to monitor his health but there’s not a day that goes by where he doesn’t think about his donor.
“Every day, absolutely every day because if it wasn’t for him or her … I wouldn’t be here.”
Visit Saskatoon Health Region for more information on organ and tissue donation.