The VMH Living Donor Drive

What is The VMH Living Donor Drive?

VMH is running a special campaign to sign up 500 living liver & kidney donors in Canada by the Spring of 2025.

My brother Salim has Stage 4 Liver Cirrhosis. Without a liver transplant soon, he will die.

We’ve been running a local fundraiser for him to help pay for his rent, food & medication & I’ve been wanting to run a nationwide campaign to find him a living liver donor. But then I thought ‘if we can’t find a compatible donor for him, but someone who can be a match for someone else, why not sign them up to be a living organ donor?’

I believe that if you extend a hand & ask for help & someone takes it, offering their assistance, but it turns out this help is best in service of another, it’s your responsibility to take the hand that is offered & place it in the hand of another who may not have the strength to ask for help. We can do more than just save my brother’s life - it’s important to try.

Donate to the Fundraiser for Salim

As of December 31, 2023, a total of 3,427 Canadians were on wait-lists to receive a transplant; 60% were active on wait-lists and 40% were on hold for a short period of time.

In 2023, a total of 681 Canadians were removed from the organ transplant wait-lists; of these, 31% had died while waiting.

If we can save not only my brother’s life & but the lives of many & signficanly reduce that 31% in 2025, it’s worth the extra effort.

A video from October 25th, 2024 broadcast by CTV Network on the living donor program with Toronto General Hospital. Press play to see how the living liver donor process works. Courtesy of Bell Media.

We’ll be reaching out to amateur athletic associations, theatre & dance companies, individuals in the media, all colleges & universities, community organizations, places of worship, local businesses in every town in the country (big city to small) & everywhere in between.

To sign up & receive information as to how you can be tested to be a potential living kidney or liver donor in Canada, fill out the contact form below with your name & email address, & what region of Canada you live in. A reminder - your information will not be handed over to any third-party & you will not receive any email messages beyond this campaign unless there’s personal correspondence you have about this initiative & you’ve consented to replies.

I’m in contact with every provincial/regional health agency about this initiative, but this initiative is not being sponsored by anyone. It’s just us all trying to do a little bit of good for others.

I can take you through the entire application process in your region if you need the help, or answer any questions you may have about the process (be it time of recovery for when you become a living liver donor, or any potential reimbursement program that may be in your region) I’ve been doing the research for this & making all the calls I can to get answers to every possible question. I’m here to be of service to you while you go through the process.

I’m also putting the word out to find individuals who have been living donors & also those who have received transplants from others. It’s important to have as many voices as possible being part of the process.

If you want to learn more about the living organ donor programs in your province, I’ve included all the links to provincial & municipal agencies across Canada below the contact form. We will have forms from every health provider in the country operating a living donor program available to download shortly.

If you have any questions, best to write rahim at findsalimaliver@gmail.com

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email

Region (city or province)

Additional Details or Questions

Living Kidney Donation Manitoba - https://www.transplantmanitoba.ca/decide/living-kidney-donor (note, no liver transplants take place in Manitoba at the present time)

Atlantic Canada

MOTP - Multi-Organ Transplant Program of Atlantic Canada (MOTP)

MOTP provides solid organ transplantation services for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland - https://www.motpatlantic.ca/

Living Kidney Donor Program - https://www.motpatlantic.ca/Home/LivingKidneyDonorProgram

(Note: if you are thinking of becoming a living organ donor in Atlantic Canada, I do urge you to contact me to help you find where you can be tested in the province you presently reside in)

Northwest Territories

The NWT organ and tissue donation registration process does not apply to living donors. If you are interested in being a living organ / tissue donor, please speak to your health care professional or contact me to help you with the process.

Québec

Transplant Québec - https://www.transplantquebec.ca/en/living-organ-donation

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan Health Authority - https://www.saskhealthauthority.ca/your-health/conditions-diseases-services/healthline-online/abl0501

Ontario

Trillium Gift of Life Network - https://beadonor.ca/ & https://www.giftoflife.on.ca/en/transplant.htm

(Note: Ontario has an extensive network of information when it comes to testing, so regardless of what region of the province you are in, I urge you to contact me through the contact form so we can match you up with the agency working in your region of the province)

UHN - Ajmera Transplant Centre - https://www.uhn.ca/transplant/living_donor_program

Additional Resources

(This list will be added to every day or two)

Canadian Blood Services - Living Organ Donations - https://www.blood.ca/en/organs-tissues/living-donation

I can’t be a living liver or kidney donor - is there something else I can do to help?

Of course. It’s not just my brother who is presently running a fundraiser (You can donate at the links/buttons above) there are other individuals on the waiting list to receive a transplant who may require your financial help. As we progress in the campaign to sign up living liver or kidney donors, I’d like to post up some of those fundraisers in case there’s an emergency situation.

And if you can’t be a living liver or kidney donor, you can take this webpage and share it with as many people as possible. Every single one of us knows at least one someone who would make an excellent living liver or kidney donor. What if it’s your sharing of this campaign that results in saving someone’s life?

We all have various platforms on different social media sites or have friends at work or people in community groups that we know - sharing a simple call for donors is doing plenty.

What if I don’t live in Canada but I still want to be tested to see if I can still help someone?

All you have to do is contact me & I will help you become a living liver or kidney donor wherever you are.

For more information, contact rahim at findsalimaliver@gmail.com