May 28, 2025
After 30 years of wondering, liver recipient Hillory Miller, right, finally meets her donor’s mother, Verna Williscroft. Photo by Su-Ling Goh.
When Verna Williscroft’s daughter, Brandy McDermott, died in 1995, Williscroft said ‘yes’ to donating her organs. Photo by Verna Williscroft.
Hillory Miller was five and near death when she received Brandy McDermott’s liver in 1995. Photo by Hillory Miller.
Story & photo by Su-Ling Goh | Video by Evan Isbister
EDMONTON — A meeting 30 years in the making has finally connected a grateful transplant recipient with her donor’s mother. Hillory Miller was five-years-old and near death when she received a life-saving liver transplant in 1995. Since then, she’s wondered who her donor was — and if she’d ever have a chance to thank the child’s family. Now, she feels like they’re part of her own family.
“The are no words to describe it,” says Miller. “(I’ve) looked forward to meeting this person my whole life. And now we’re here.” Miller was born with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease. By age five, she was on life support and her only hope ¬— a long shot — was a liver transplant.
Her family lived in Deer Lake, Newfoundland at the time. Miller has a rare blood type and says the medical team told her parents: “The chances of finding a (donor) match are slim to none… she’s not going to make it long enough to find a match. So take her home and enjoy the time you have left with her.”
Meanwhile, an 11-year-old girl named Brandy McDermott was struggling in Edmonton. She had cerebral palsy, and complications had landed her in a coma in the University of Alberta Hospital. Her mother, Verna Williscroft, says the medical team gently informed her Brandy would not survive, and asked if she would consider organ donation. Williscroft didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’.
“It just felt right,” recalls Williscroft. “Because in my mind, if whatever (Brandy) had could help another family … absolutely. That was who she was. She was a child that gave, she was a child that taught.”
Around the same time, Miller was being transported by air ambulance from Newfoundland to London, Ontario — a last-ditch effort to be ready for surgery, in case a matching donor came up. A winter storm forced the crew to land in New Brunswick, then reroute to Nova Scotia overnight. That’s when the Ontario team called to tell them an Alberta child’s liver was on its way, and would need to be transplanted soon.
“(They said the liver is) a perfect match. It will be here in this time … if she’s not here, she doesn’t get it,” Miller says. “And so the clock started.”
The urgent “against-all-odds” journey included a faster plane flying in from Montreal through thick fog, a fire alarm rendering the Halifax hospital’s elevators out of service, and a frantic transfer on an air force base tarmac. Miller made it to London just in time for her transplant on Friday the 13th of January, 1995.
Over the years, Miller and her family often thought of her donor’s family.
“This family is so special because, if they didn’t make that choice (to donate), I wouldn’t be here. And even though I was only five, I recognized that,” adds Miller.
In 2024, now living in Alberta, Miller was able to contact Give Life Alberta project coordinator Margaret Lidstone, who had just joined the donation program in 1995.
“Having something so wonderful happen after such a loss for the (donor) family is just amazing,” says Lidstone, who will retire this year. “I am so happy that I was able to help make this meeting possible. My heart is full.”
Lidstone managed to find Brandy’s mother, Williscroft, and sent her Miller’s seven-page anonymous thank-you letter. When Williscroft eventually agreed to meet Miller, Lidstone arranged a virtual meeting, then their first in-person meeting.
Williscroft and her husband Gerry received Miller’s letter just in time; Gerry died a few weeks later. His wife says the letter brought him joy.
“I never thought in the future that we would have this opportunity (to hear from Brandy’s liver recipient) … and it just came at a wonderful time,” says Williscroft. “It was actually something that helped in the healing, helped with the grieving.”
On April 29, 2025, Williscroft drove five hours from Grande Prairie to Edmonton to meet Miller for the first time.
“Even though it was the first time hugging her … I feel like I’ve known her my whole life,” says Miller.
“I always knew there was part of Brandy out there, or I sure hoped so. It gave me the strength to go on,” says Williscroft.
Williscroft presented Miller with a big bag of baby gifts; she’s now pregnant with her first child — a boy.
“My family didn’t expect me to be here — never mind me having a baby,” says Miller with a smile. “Brandy’s life is a gift that keeps on giving.”
More than 500 people are waiting for life-saving transplants in Alberta. For more information on organ and tissue donation, visit GiveLifeAlberta.ca.
