Transplant Services celebrates 25 years of heart and lung transplants and the donors who make it all possible
April 19, 2011
CALGARY — It took two heart transplants – but today Dylan Stork is a healthy and happy 22-year-old living in Calgary.
“It is impossible to express the gratitude our family has for the donor families who have given us the most amazing gift,” says Tracy Blanchard, who was told the day after her son Dylan was born that she should take him home and make him comfortable until he passed away.
Alberta Health Services is celebrating the 25th anniversary of heart and lung transplantation in Alberta as well as annual National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week by bringing together donor families and recipients to share their experiences.
“When we initially see patients, their life expectancy without a transplant is six to 12 months. After transplants, patients can live 15 or more years longer,” says Dr. Jeff Burton, medical co-director of the Heart Transplant Program for the University of Alberta Hospital and Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute.
“Of course, organ transplantation is impossible to provide unless we have donors. We depend on people donating their organs and tissues, which is why it’s important to raise awareness of organ and tissue donation.”
Upon Stork’s birth in January 1989 in Red Deer, doctors first sent him to hospital in Edmonton for further tests on what was believed to be a heart murmur.
Doctors there discovered young Dylan had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome – a rare congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped – and needed a pediatric heart transplant, a procedure not performed in Alberta at that time.
His mom, Tracy Blanchard, did some research and found a hospital in California, the Loma Linda University Medical Centre, which performed pediatric heart transplants. After a six-week wait for a donor, Dylan received his new heart there.
After more than a decade of active boyhood – Dylan grew into a champion soccer player and solid student at school. But he fell gravely ill at age 12 when his body rejected his transplanted heart. Dylan received a second heart transplant in Alberta in 2002.
“We are thankful every day for the unmatched generosity of the two brave families who turned their tragedies into miracles,” adds Blanchard.
The first pediatric heart transplant in Alberta was performed at Edmonton’s University of Alberta Hospital in 1996.
In 2010, the donations of 13 deceased organ donors in southern Alberta contributed to organ transplants across Canada. In the same year, there were 262 tissue donors.
Organ donations can include: heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas and small bowel. Tissue donations can include; eyes, bones, skin, heart valves, connective tissue (tendons), cartilage and veins.
How to Donate:
- Talk about donation with your loved ones. Get the facts. Make the decision that’s right for you. Discuss your decision with your family.
- Document your decision on the back of your Alberta Personal Health card.
- The final decision of whether to donate or not is requested from your family. Make your wishes known to make that process easier for your loved ones.
The Southern Alberta Organ and Tissue Donation Program is responsible for donations of organs, ocular tissue and non-ocular tissue. National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week is April 17 – 23 this year.
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than 3.5 million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.
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