TORONTO – Supporters of an Inuk activist from Labrador suffering from acute liver failure say her condition has improved slightly, but the battle to overturn a six-month sobriety requirement for a spot on a transplant waiting list isn’t over.
A lawyer for Delilah Saunders says doctors at a Toronto hospital are working to determine whether the 26-year-old woman will continue to show signs of recovery or if she still needs a liver transplant.
Caryma S’ad says the search for a matching private donor has been held up by an earlier decision deeming Saunders ineligible for an Ontario waiting list because she had not abstained from alcohol for a minimum of six months.
READ MORE: Inuk advocate for women rejected for liver transplant due to alcoholism: friends
Transplant physicians have said the six-month abstinence policy is widely applied, in part because there is research showing that some alcoholics resume drinking after a transplant, leading to liver failure.
S’ad says several potential donors have offered to help Saunders with full awareness of her history of alcohol use, making the “arbitrary” policy even less applicable.
Ossie Michelin, who helped organize a campaign in support of Saunders, says his friend’s health is his chief concern, but he knows the Indigenous rights advocate would want him to fight on behalf of all the patients affected by the policy.
READ MORE: Woman with acute liver failure being assessed after outcry over transplant refusal
Amnesty International previously issued a statement supporting Delilah’s Saunders’ inclusion on the waiting list, and praised her for her work advocating for the human rights of Innu and other Indigenous women.
Saunders began advocating for the rights of missing and murdered indigenous women following the murder of her sister Loretta in 2014 in Halifax.