Melnyk liver donor wanted to ‘save a life’
OTTAWA • When doctors announced last month that they had successfully transplanted a life-saving liver into Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, they gave virtually no information about the anonymous donor who had saved the billionaire’s life, except that he or she is a hockey fan.
Part of the donor’s motivation, doctors said at the time, was to “bring the Stanley Cup home to the Ottawa Senators.”
Now the doctor who worked closely with the donor has filled in some details about the person who is now recovering from surgery after having 70 per cent of his or her liver removed and the outcome of the public plea.
“This donor is a wonderful human being. You would be proud to have this person as your child,” said Dr. Gary Levy, a staff physician in the Living Donor Liver Program at Toronto’s University Health Network, who specializes in living donor livers and liver diseases.
Levy said the donor’s parents were also remarkable: “They were there every step of the way.”
The donor, whose comment about the Stanley Cup was widely published, “has a good sense of humour,” the physician said. But the motivating factor “was to save a life.” Doctors had said Melnyk likely had just weeks to live without a transplant.
For now, the donor, who is between 18 and 55 years of age and in good physical shape, according to requirements, remains anonymous. But Melnyk might get a chance to say thank you in person after recovery from surgery is complete, Levy said. Although the transplant program recommends they maintain complete anonymity and exchange anonymous letters, he said hospital officials would be on hand to facilitate a meeting if it was requested.
“We did say that if either the recipient or the donor did want to meet, we would act as the conveyor. We would be in attendance and do the introductions.”
Levy noted recipient and donor are required to strictly abide by the rule that no money or goods can be exchanged, and both agreed. Everything in Melnyk’s case “was done perfectly above board,” he said.
Melnyk’s public plea for a life-saving liver donation has been a game-changer in Canada — the highest-profile public solicitation for a living donor by an adult. And that makes some people uncomfortable. The public solicitation of organ donations by anonymous donors is something many hospitals around the world won’t touch because of that discomfort. Many limit such donations to family members or close friends. The Canadian Society of Transplantation is working on a policy statement about anonymous living donors as a result of the high-profile case.
Just last week, two families launched public pleas on social media for life-saving livers for their children. Earlier this year, the University Health Network, whose living donor transplant program is the biggest of its kind in North America, helped screen potential donors after the parents of a three-yearold twin from Kingston, Ont., Binh Wagner, made a public plea for someone to save the girl’s life. Her father had donated part of his liver to one of the twins, who were born with liver disease, but an anonymous donor was required for the second one.
Levy said he is inspired by people who are willing to give a piece of their liver to someone they don’t know in what can be a risky operation. There have been deaths of donors in some U.S.-based programs. Toronto’s program, which has done 700 living door transplants, has seen no deaths, although complications are common.
Doctors said between 25 and 30 people who were willing to donate to Melnyk have agreed to be considered for future anonymous donations. Levy said there were people willing to donate to someone else after the Binh Wagner case, as well.
Doctors at the University Health Network have not yet performed any transplants involving people who stepped forward for the Ottawa Sen-
If either the recipient or the donor did want to meet, we would act as the conveyer
ators owner. They needed to make sure he and his donor were stable first.
But they have performed transplants on some needy children as a result of people who stepped forward for Binh Wagner but were not needed. Levy said anonymous donations often go to children first because the surgery is less severe — involving taking 1015 per cent of a donor’s liver, rather than 70 per cent for an adult.
He said five or six other lives might be saved by anonymous donors who came forward for the Wagners. And the same number could be saved as a result of donors who came forward for Melnyk, allowing others to move up on the deceased donor list. “That is a remarkable outcome. That is a big gain.”
Melnyk, who is at a rehabilitation centre recovering from the surgery, has not spoken publicly about the surgery, but is expected to. The Ottawa Senators have said they will make raising awareness about organ donations a priority.