Because of their small size and extensive scar tissue that prevents biopsy, Jeremy Janzen doesn’t know why his kidneys failed, but they did.
After a long waiting period and countless rounds of dialysis, he became the recipient of a donated kidney.
This story makes April 7th, Green Shirt Day, particularly significant to Janzen and his spouse, Danita. It’s a day that also lives in the minds of many other Canadians who recall a certain tragedy that resulted in a heart-wrenching, bittersweet gift.
What is Green Shirt Day?
On April 6th, 2018, the Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash occurred, in which a bus carrying 28 junior hockey league players collided with a transport truck. Of the passengers, 16 lost their lives.
It was a tragedy that reverberated through the country and even the continent.
One of the players who passed away the next day on April 7th, a defenseman named Logan Boulet, left behind a legacy that inspired a chain of astounding events.
Boulet’s parents knew that their son was passionate about organ donation because of his late coach and mentor, Ric Suggitt, whose donation saved six lives, so they offered to donate his organs, too.
Because of their son’s passion, six more lives were saved due to the donation, which began a chain reaction.
Soon, other Canadians took his lead and signed up to become organ donors, and on April 7th each year, the country wears a green shirt to honour Boulet and spread awareness for organ donation.
According to greenshirtday.ca, an estimated 150,000 people signed up to be organ donors thanks to Boulet.
A phone call at 1:42 a.m.
For people like Janzen, donors are invaluable. After 6 years of the gruelling dialysis process, someone who decided to be a donor gave him hope in the dead of night one day.
“We were just coming back from a holiday and we had stopped at my parents place, we had our goddaughters with us, and all of a sudden, I get a phone call at 1:42 in the morning,” says Danita.
"All of a sudden, they say, ‘We're looking for Jeremy Janzen. We think we have a kidney for him.’”
Danita says she quickly woke Janzen up for a conversation and listened as he answered questions. The couple was in Regina at the time, and by the end of the phone call, they were gathering their things to reach Winnipeg at 6 a.m. the next morning to receive the kidney.
“Then we packed up the truck, and we drove,” says Janzen.
‘We didn’t know anything for sure’
As the couple sped back to Winnipeg, there was still uncertainty, as there often is with kidney transplants.
“We didn't know anything for sure because we had been told that Jeremy was the first on the list ... to be a recipient, but there was someone who was on life support at the time, and so we wouldn't know until 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. if there was actually going to be a transplant,” says Danita.
“We had to kind of wait and figure out what was going on. Then the doctor came at just after 5:00, and he said, ‘There are two kidneys. You will be getting one.’”
Janzen says that at the moment, he was “ready” to receive the kidney, especially because often, time is of the essence with organ donation.
“We've heard stories from friends who went for transplant. You could be going to the operating table, and [they could say], ‘You're not getting a kidney today,’ so it's not a sure thing,” he says.
‘[It’s] a lot more freeing’
In the end, it was Janzen’s day. Thanks to a community-minded donor, he got a kidney, and now his life is different. He is free of dialysis, the impact of which, to someone who hasn’t experienced it before, may not be immediately clear.
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Janzen says he got his treatments 3 times a week in five-hour increments.
“15 hours a week — you don't think that's a lot of time, but at the same time, that’s a lot of time. It's from 12-5,” says Janzen. “They compare [every time you do dialysis] to running a marathon, and so afterwards, it’ll be eat something and then crash for the evening. There is no energy to do anything.”
As for his life now, he says it’s “a lot more freeing,” especially when it comes to travel. Before Janzen got his kidney, he says he had dialysis treatments all across Western Canada.
“Danita always had to call the hospitals and arrange it. She had to book three months ahead of time," he says.
Now, the couple can travel wherever they want without extra planning.
“[We can say], ‘Hey, should we go on a trip this weekend? Or, ‘Let's go to the city on Saturday’ — that's actually feasible,” says Danita.
Although the journey is not without its bumps (including the anti-rejection medication that Janzen takes so that his body accepts the new kidney), overall, things are looking up.
A heartfelt letter
For Janzen and his family, organ donation helped remove many obstacles from his health and his daily routine.
The family is grateful for it and understands that it came at a cost. Although there are sometimes kidney donations from patients who are still alive, this wasn't the circumstance under which Janzen received his.
“We rejoice the day that Jeremy got a kidney, but we also mourn for the family as well because we know the loss that they suffered," says Danita.
“One of the things that was so incredible for us was the fact that someone was willing to give of themselves — literally."
The Janzens say they sent a letter to the family to “honour” both them and their journey of having an organ donor in their family.
“The impact is so huge,” says Danita.
To sign up to be an organ donor in Manitoba, click here.