Organ donor helps people across Canada launch campaigns to find living donors of their own

An Ottawa woman who anonymously donated part of her liver to save a child 7 years ago is now helping desperate people across Canada launch campaigns to find the living organ donors they need to survive.

“I know first-hand that public appeals work,” says Heather Badenoch, who has been helping manage private and public appeals in search of kidney and liver donors for 6 years. “There are a lot of kind people in the world willing to help another person in need. So when I hear of someone who needs a living donor and they need help to find one, the transplant Bat-Signal goes up, and I call as soon as I can.”

The latest CIHI data shows that while in 2023, organ transplants in Canada exceeded volumes not seen since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still a significant gap between people needing organs and those who receive them either from deceased or living donors. In total, 3,369 solid organ transplants were performed in Canada in 2023; 82% of the organs transplanted came from deceased donors and 18% from living donors. There were more than 3,427 Canadians on a wait-list for organ donation as of December 31, 2023, and more than 681 people died or were withdrawn from the list in 2023.

Transplant doctors often recommend that people in need of liver and kidney transplants find living donors. Only a portion of the liver is donated, and what’s taken grows back fully. The body typically has 2 kidneys and needs only 1 to function.

Some of those in need of an organ have a large network of family and friends and a regular presence on social media. For them, a little information on the living donor application process and how to approach the people in their lives might be all they need. The University Health Network, home to one of the busiest transplant centres in North America, regularly offers free Finding a Living Donor sessions in-person and online through its Centre for Living Organ Donation.

But for others, Badenoch is often there to give advice and offer more hands-on help.

Some people may be inexperienced when it comes to sharing their story with friends and family or more publicly on social media. Maybe English isn’t their first language. There may be cultural reasons why they are uncomfortable asking for help. Maybe the person is just too sick to manage a campaign.

For them, Badenoch offers words of encouragement on the phone or by video. She creates a customized campaign based on their comfort level sharing their story. She helps them shape what they want to say and offers advice on how to get those messages shared as widely as possible.