September 12, 2025
Rhekia and her father, Saad Fahssi, raise the new Give Life Alberta flag at the Foothills Medical Centre, as Dr. Mauricio Monroy-Cuadros, medical director of the Living Donor Program, watches on. The flag will fly for two awareness weeks every year. Its icon symbolizes organ and tissue donation, with the green heart filling the void of the dotted heart. This is the second such flag in Alberta; the other is at the University of Alberta Hospital. Photo by Su-Ling Goh.
Rhekia and Saad Fahssi show off their matching tattoos, symbolizing living donation. Rhekia donated a kidney to Saad in 2010, saving her dad’s life. Photo by Francis Silvaggio.
Story & photo by Su-Ling Goh | Photo by Francis Silvaggio
CALGARY — A Calgary woman and her father have officially raised a new Give Life Alberta flag — a tribute to all organ and tissue donors in Alberta. Rhekia and Saad Fahssi did the honours at the Foothills Medical Centre (FMC) almost 15 years after she donated her kidney to him there, saving her dad’s life.
“To say (organ donation) is a gift of life in some ways oversimplifies it,” says Rhekia. “It’s all the things in life … it’s going to a movie, going for a walk, camping … memories you are giving someone else’s spouse, grandchildren, siblings — you’re giving them the opportunity to have more.”
The Give Life Alberta flag will be raised in the FMC’s Grounds for Gratitude for two weeks every year: Living Donation Week in September and National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week in April. The flag’s icon — a green heart filling the void of a dotted heart – symbolizes organ and tissue donation. This is the second such flag in the province; the first was raised at the University of Alberta Hospital in April.
While most organ and tissue donations come from deceased donors, some healthy adults can safely donate one kidney or a part of their liver and still live a normal life. In 2024, 74 living donors courageously saved lives in Alberta (69 donated kidneys).
“Living donors go through surgery and put their lives on hold to save someone else’s life. Some even do this for a stranger,” says Dr. Andreas Kramer, medical director of Give Life Alberta.
“Every year in Alberta, dozens of courageous individuals choose to be living donors. We are so grateful for these gifts of life.” Since the first living kidney donation at the FMC in 1974, about 700 selfless people have stepped up to donate a kidney at that hospital, including Rhekia.
Rhekia remembers spending many hours at the FMC as a child while her father Saad attended medical appointments for his failing kidneys. After four years of dialysis — hooked up to a blood-filtering machine for 15 hours every week — Saad received a kidney from a deceased donor in 1996. That organ lasted about 10 years before he had to go back on dialysis while waiting for another transplant.
Two of his siblings were tested as potential kidney donors, but were not a match. That’s when Rhekia, then 18, volunteered. Saad initially forbade her from going through surgery for him.
“That’s a fear for every parent. You never want to bring harm to your kids,” says Saad. “If something happened while we were doing this (transplant surgery), how do I live with it?”
On Father’s Day in 2010, Rhekia sat her dad down for a talk. “I said, ‘I’m giving you a kidney. I’m not asking you if you will take my kidney, I am telling you’,” says Rhekia.
“’I want you to be around in my life. I want you to be here for all the landmarks for me, my brother and everyone else in our life’.”
“I spent the night crying (about) whether I wanted to (let her) do that or not, but she was adamant,” recalls Saad, with tears in his eyes. “I’m thankful for that every day.”
Living donors go through an extensive testing process to ensure they are healthy enough for major surgery, compatible with their intended recipient (to minimize the chance of rejection) and infection-free. It turned out Rhekia was an excellent match for Saad, and each of their surgeries went smoothly in December 2010.
Since his daughter’s donation, the former professional soccer player has competed as a runner in the Canadian Transplant games and travelled to Morocco, where he grew up, several times. He also married his longtime girlfriend, adding two stepdaughters to their family.
“(Rhekia) gave me a second opportunity at living and doing things I wanted to do with her and her brother and our new family,” says the 66-year-old. “I cherish every moment of that. She’s a good human.”
“It’s definitely created a special bond between the two of us. We sometimes joke about it. If he’s calling me, I’m like, ‘Oh is your kidney burning?’,” laughs Rhekia, now 34.
“I think about what my life would have been like had my dad not been around. I can’t imagine getting through my 20s without him to call and give me advice.”
More than 500 people are waiting for a life-saving transplant in Alberta. For more information about living and deceased organ and tissue donation, visit GiveLifeAlberta.ca.
