KENDRA LEE-RANKIN
Advocacy, health and living life
Kendra Lee-rankin and her now-husband Scott were eating Dairy Queen food at their kitchen table in St. Albert when she pulled out an onion ring and proposed in early 2019.
Scott thought she was joking, but Lee-rankin, 28, was dead serious.
“I want to live as much life as I can,” she said of the reason behind her spontaneous proposal.
Since being added to the list for a heart transplant in June 2018, Lee-rankin’s default setting has become one of taking life by the horns, and that includes advocating for as many people as possible to register to be organ donors.
Born at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, she had her first open heart surgery when she was just five days old to fix a birth defect that caused the two great arteries in her heart to not cross, preventing her blood from being properly oxygenated.
By 22, when she had a pacemaker inserted, she’d had more than 14 surgeries.
“I didn’t really know any different,” she said of her childhood, during which she loved playing with friends, but often couldn’t keep up. “It would be nice to know what normal is.”
Lee-rankin and her husband wed in September, and the two hope to have children. They plan to adopt, since her heart failure would put both hers and a baby’s life at risk if she became pregnant.
In the meantime, she is focused on her health. She’s had to stop working at Lowe’s, due to the physical toll, and her days have been centred on caring for herself and managing her pain. Still, she loves the idea of having a purpose in caring for a child, and finds it by doing regular respite work with a friend’s young son, who has physical disabilities.
Her journey has been full of challenges, including the fact her small stature makes her a very particular match for a heart. However, the quest for a transplant has brought her family together in its advocacy to promote organ donation and highlight the need to support medical causes.
“There isn’t enough information out there about organ donation,” she said, stressing that many may not believe it could be themselves or a family member in need of a transplant. “It’s a non-subject.”
It’s a topic Lee-rankin talks about whenever she can, along with doing everything possible to enjoy life. Right now, that includes making plans for a honeymoon — before or after a potential transplant — and the possibility of growing old with her husband.
“Tomorrow’s not guaranteed for anyone. I’d rather go knowing I had done everything I can.”
Tomorrow’s not guaranteed for anyone. I’d rather go knowing I had done everything I can.
KENDRA LEE-RANKIN, above, who has been waiting for a heart transplant for over a year. At left, Lee-rankin, after her first heart surgery at five days old.