Melnyk donor driven in part by Cup dream

Only 26 of more than 500 Canadians who answered Eugene Melnyk’s plea for a live liver donation said they would donate to someone other than the owner of the Ottawa Senators hockey team.

Toronto’s University Health Network, where Melnyk is in intensive care after an eighthour transplant Tuesday, said 12 of the 500 qualified as potential candidates for Melnyk and 26 said they would “be happy to be considered in the future for another person who may need a liver transplant.”

The person who donated part of their liver to Melnyk after an emotional request to Senators’ fans for help last week, told doctors the “motivation to do this is to help Mr. Melnyk return to good health, to enjoy his family and friends, and most importantly to bring the Stanley Cup home to the Ottawa Senators,” said Dr. David Grant, director of the Living Donor Liver Transplant Program.

“The donor hopes that others will be inspired by this story and will also consider organ donation.”

But what is being heralded as a boost for live organ donation has also been criticized for the way Melnyk used his profile to get help. The 55-year-old businessman got a transplant five days after the appeal while others wait far longer.

There was no queue-jumping — as widely suggested — the hospital insisted Thursday. There is only a waiting list for deceased donors’ organs, not live donations, said Dr. Atul Humar, medical director of the multi-organ transplant program.

“Really, overall (this is) a winwin situation, there’s nobody disadvantaged from this type of appeal,” he said. Both Melnyk and the donor are “stable and recovering well from their operations.”

Meanwhile, neither the Senators nor hospital officials would say why Melnyk qualified to receive a liver transplant at a hospital in Toronto given he is a permanent resident of Barbados.

Eligibility rules under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan require patients to make their primary residence in Ontario and spend at least 153 days in any 12-month period to maintain coverage. The “snowbird” provision prevents patients from returning to Ontario only when they need health care.