Living Donors Online Message Board
Living Donation Discussion and News => Living Donation in the News => Topic started by: Clark on April 18, 2015, 08:12:19 AM
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http://www.cjob.com/2015/04/08/68779/
Rising Number Of People Asking About Liver Donations
Christian Aumell
11-year-old Allexis Siebrecht is a local girl who desperately needs a liver transplant. 24-year-old Samantha Lussier is being tested to try and become the girl’s living donor. In light of this story, the number of people wanting to become living donors has spiked significantly.
“Since this media coverage with Allexis, I’ve had close to 50 people that have come forward and asked, ‘How do I start this process? How do I go forward?’” says Bianca Pengelly, regional coordinator of the Canadian Liver Foundation.
Pengelly wants to remind Winnipeggers that there are many more people in need of a transplant.
“Just because you’ve read Allexis’ story doesn’t mean that she’s the only one in the community. If you could consider someone else that would be great. So there are a few people that have come forward and say, ‘I just want to be a living donor. How do I start that?’”
Pengelly also clears up some of the questions people have about being a living donor.
“You might think, ‘Oh, they’re taking away my organ.’ They’re not. They’re taking away the piece that this young lady would need, or whoever it would be going to. Your liver will heal itself. You’ll be able to live a lifestyle and never know that you had this problem other than somebody noticing a scar on you.”
She adds that Allexis and Samantha’s story should remind everyone to get their liver checked. For more information on how to become an organ donor, you can learn more here. http://www.transplantmanitoba.ca/decide/how-do-i-become-an-organ-donor-in-manitoba