Senators owner undergoes liver transplant
OTTAWA — Eugene Melnyk has received the gift of life.
Only six days after announcing the Ottawa Senators owner needed a liver transplant to stay alive, the club confirmed late Tuesday night that Melnyk, 55, underwent a successful eight-hour procedure at Toronto General Hospital and is now “resting comfortably” along with the anonymous donor and “doing well.”
“Mr. Melnyk went into surgery at noon today and the transplantation was successfully completed at 8:05 p.m.,” the club said in a statement released at 8:45 p.m. ET.
While the news of Melnyk’s illness sent shock waves through the community, a cheer went up when it was announced the surgery was done.
Senators president Cyril Leeder, who held a news conference last Thursday to announce Melnyk’s situation, wanted to hold off on making a comment Tuesday night.
The decision to go public wasn’t taken lightly and Melnyk had to be convinced to go this route, but it ended up saving his life. More than 2,000 people flooded a phone room at the Canadian Tire Centre to offer support, while more than 400 people applied to donate and 12 candidates underwent rigorous screening.
The people in the transplant unit at the hospital spent the weekend going through the applicants, taking phone calls and making sure they had the right match for Melnyk. He has a rare AB blood type, which didn’t allow him to get the liver of a deceased donor, and that’s why a live donor had to be found.
It’s believed officials at the hospital will hold a news conference later this week to discuss the procedure, the anonymous donor and to help raise awareness for organ donation.