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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It has been an agonizing and costly wait for Yellowknifer Gary Potts, who is on a liver transplant list in Edmonton.

Gary Potts of Yellowknife (front row, right) with his wife Nancy, daughter Kim and son Zach in the fall of 2012. Gary, who suffers from Primary Sclerosing Colangitis, and is awaiting a liver transplant in Edmonton. Jan. 7, 2013 - Kirsten Murphy photo

Although he is number one on the list in his blood type and size category, the call could come today, months from now or not at all. In the meantime, the 46-year-old and his wife, Nancy, pay for an apartment in Edmonton across the street from the University of Alberta Hospital while also paying for a mortgage and bills for their Yellowknife home, a pricey situation that has been alleviated through a benefit concert and auction held at the Top Knight Pub on Friday.

In 2003, Gary became sick, getting jaundiced and fatigued. In 2004, he had surgery where his common bile duct was removed and his liver was flushed out. Potts is either suffering from an auto-immune disease that attacks the liver and bile ducts, or Caroli's disease, a rare inherited disorder characterized by abnormal widening of the ducts that carry bile from the liver. According to Nancy, they won't know what the official diagnosis is until Gary's liver transplant is successful and a pathology is done on his old organ.

Gary has been on the transplant list since September, after getting weaker and weaker since the spring of 2012. The couple went to Edmonton to admit Gary on Nov. 20 and after about seven weeks, He had stabilized enough to be discharged and is now living with Nancy in the apartment, since staying in the hospital environment for a long period of time could put him in danger of contracting a superbug, which would weaken him even further.

The family is paying $1,633 a month in rent on top of the living expenses and a mortgage and bills in Yellowknife. But on Jan. 11 the Yellowknife community offered a helping hand. Groovin' for Gary was a fundraiser held at the Top Knight Pub. It was an evening filled with music, a live auction and a silent auction with items such as a flight to Edmonton on Canadian North for a concert by country singer Carrie Underwood, and a fishing trip on Great Bear Lake.

Mike Roesch, a co-worker of Gary's at the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, co-MCed the benefit concert and auction and said they raised close to $20,000. There were nearly 160 people in attendance.

"It was sold out, we had a full house. Lots of energy, lots of fun ... The highlight of the night was that Nancy showed up at about 10 o'clock and surprised everyone," said Roesch, who said the funds raised will go to help the Potts with their living expenses.

"Gary's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. You hear people say it all the time but he really is. He's someone that would do anything for anyone."

According to the Canadian Association of Transplantation, more than 4,000 Canadians are waiting for an organ transplant to save their lives. One organ and tissue donor can save up to 80 people.

In the NWT, the Stanton Territorial Health Authority has partnered with the Human Organ Procurement Exchange (HOPE) program, based in Alberta, which funds all air and ground travel costs for potential NWT donors to travel to Alberta, according to the Department of Health and Social Services,

In the case where potential donors are identified in the NWT, Stanton Territorial Health Authority contacts HOPE and the donors are medevaced to Edmonton to have their organs harvested.

Organs and tissues cannot be harvested in the NWT due to laboratory limitations, among other challenges, according to Damien Healy, spokesperson for the GNWT Department of Health. So the waiting game continues in Edmonton for the Potts family.

"We're just waiting for the right liver to come in," said Nancy.

"Everyday is a new day. We have a lot of hope."

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