Lives changed by organ donation

HALIFAX – They could be your neighbour, your co-worker or that person you passed on the street. But some Halifax residents are living proof that organ donations save lives.

At the tender age of two, Scott Livingstone was diagnosed with cirrhosis and end stage liver disease.

“I was becoming jaundiced. Kids were asking me why my eyes were a certain colour. With liver disease, it causes you to become confused a lot of the time,” he said.

When Livingstone was 14, he received a liver transplant, which changed his life.

“I would have died. It’s plain and simple.”

Now the liver recipient, who is 33, is a resident physician at QEII. While he says he was interested in science anyway, there is no doubt receiving a new liver steered him towards a career in medicine.

“I am actually going into training after this to become a transplant surgeon so I can go on and do liver transplants and other types of surgeries,” Livingstone said.

On the other side of the city, Trevor Umlah laces up for his daily run. It’s something he could barely do six years ago before he got a double lung transplant.

Umlah had cystic fibrosis and says life with the disease was difficult.

“I was constantly battling infections. I was always on IV and antibiotics. I had very little energy and was unable to do most things myself,” he said.

Umlah received his new lungs on his 39th birthday and says his first breaths were amazing.

“I could just feel all the oxygen going to all these areas of my body that had been so deprived of oxygen before. My hands had been blue with poor oxygen circulation. I looked down and my hands were perfectly white.”

“Every time I take a deep breath and think about how lucky I am to be able to do that,” Umlah said.

Jessica Carver, 33, was also born with cystic fibrosis and though she was relatively healthy during her childhood, the disease got difficult to cope with when she was in her 20s.

She underwent a double lung transplant just four months ago.

“It’s surreal. I can wake up and not cough, not gasp for breath, not be hooked up to oxygen,” she said.

Carver says that prior to her transplant, she viewed life in the short term.

“You’re wondering when am I going to get better, am I going to get better? Is the transplant going to happen?” she said.

Her outlook on life has since changed.

“I can envision a future for the first time in a long time.”

“Organ donation is the most selfless, priceless gift you can give. You can be a hero,” says Carver.

To learn more about how you can become an organ donor, check out the following link: http://www.legacyoflife.ns.ca/