Life after death
GNWT urging families to talk about organ donation through new campaign
James Goldie
Northern News Services
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A new campaign has been unveiled by the GNWT that aims to get people talking about the final wishes of family members in the event of a terrible personal tragedy.
Jackie and Ed Hardy hold a photo of their son Josh who died as a result of a head injury incurred while skateboarding. Because he was an organ donor, the Hardys have chosen to share Josh's story in an online video as part of the GNWT's new awareness campaign about organ and tissue donation. - James Goldie/NNSL photo
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On Oct. 1, the Department of Health and Social Services launched its Life is Sacred Become a Donor campaign, encouraging residents of the Northwest Territories to have conversations with family and loved ones about organ and tissue donation. It's an important topic for Jackie and Ed Hardy, who are featured in a short video as part of the awareness-raising initiative.
"I think it's important to get the word out there that organ donation is something that needs to be done," said Jackie. "There are so many people out there (in need). I know people in Yellowknife who waited and never got one."
In the video, which is available on the health department's website, the Hardys share the story of their son Josh whose organs were donated following a skateboarding accident in 2012 that left him permanently brain dead. Josh had been medevaced from Yellowknife to Edmonton, where his parents made the decision to have his organs harvested. Shortly before the accident, Josh had had a conversation with his older brother about wanting to one day be an organ donor, which is how the family knew they were making the right choice.
"It is a hard decision to make at the time, but if your wishes are known to your family in advance, it's one less thing the family has to decide on," said Jackie.
This is precisely the goal of the department's campaign because there is currently no registry available in the NWT through which residents can officially confirm their desire to be donors. The GNWT plans to join Alberta's organ and tissue donation registry, but connecting to that system is still a couple years from becoming a reality.
"I think we've pretty much come to an agreement that it's going to happen. Alberta is willing to have us come in. Unfortunately we have been delayed as a result of their election and change of government," said Health Minister Glen Abernethy.
According to Abernethy, the department still wanted to get its campaign underway now so that "people start having that dialogue with their families as soon as they can so that when the registry does come up they can take advantage (of it)."
Currently it is not possible for organs to be harvested in the NWT, however, Abernethy said that when the registry is in place the GNWT will work with an Alberta-based organization to transport viable donors to facilities in the south where their organs and tissue can be harvested.
Jackie said she is hopeful the video and the government's campaign will make it easier for families to discuss this topic, which she feels is still taboo for many people.
"Josh was a young healthy man, so there's no reason why someone else couldn't benefit," she said.
Josh's heart, one of his lungs, both kidneys, and his liver (split into two parts) were harvested and used in living patients.
"It was a tragedy for us but it was a good thing for six other people who benefited from it," she said, adding that this knowledge has helped with her family's healing process.
"Just knowing that other people are living on. Josh is actually living on in other people. His heart is beating in someone else's body. One of his lungs is helping somebody to breath," she said. "There are so many positive things that we know are happening to other people."
