Even though you may have signed your organ donation card and have the sticker on your health care card, your family has to be on board.
Dr. Mike Moser is a kidney transplant surgeon who practices in Saskatoon, and he says if the family doesn’t agree, the organ donation cannot move forward. He says it happens a few times a year.
”We know that these people who passed away very suddenly often, this was their wishes, and their wishes were not followed, but that really emphasizes for us the message, the most important message probably is the importance of having that conversation with our family and friends.”
Today is Green Shirt Day, sparked by Logan Boulet, who died in the Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash and donated his organs, benefitting six people. The “Logan Boulet Effect” led to blood donations and people signing the organ donor registry or their organ donor cards.
In a news release, the Government of Saskatchewan says the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s Organ Donation Program has seen a 75 per cent increase in deceased organ donors in the 2023 calendar year compared to the previous year. According to the latest report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, for the first time ever, Saskatchewan has achieved the highest rate of deceased organ donors in the entire country, with 28.9 donors per million population.