Dave Kinsella (middle) following his kidney donation surgery in Jan. 2020, with Tony Timmons (right) and Ryan McLennan, the man Kinsella had initially signed up to help. Timmons later donated a kidney to McLennan after Kinsella was determined to not be a match. (Supplied)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

organ donation

‘Logan Boulet effect’ continuing to save lives two years later

Apr 7, 2020 | 7:18 AM

When Dave Kinsella anonymously donated one of his kidneys earlier this year, it didn’t matter that he would never meet the recipient or that they would never know the person who saved their life.

On the second anniversary of the tragic Humboldt Broncos bus crash that killed 16 and injured 13 on April 6, 2018, the Red Deer County resident says organ donation must remain top of mind.

Kinsella’s message rings especially true because Tuesday is Green Shirt Day in honour of fallen Bronco Logan Boulet, whose organs were shared after his passing to save several lives.

“There was a guy in 2018 named Ryan McLennan who had done a billboard campaign to find a kidney donor,” Kinsella recalls. “One billboard was near Bowden, and I’d see it every day and I kept thinking somebody should help that guy. Then I thought well, I’m a somebody, so I phoned the number to do it.”

Unfortunately, Kinsella wasn’t a match for McLennan, though the Calgary man did eventually receive the transplant he needed; which was actually his second.

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Kinsella had gone through multiple steps of the donation process and decided to follow through anyway. On January 29, 2020 at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, he completed the process, donating one of his kidneys to a complete stranger.

“I had already started on the path of getting tested for Ryan when Humboldt happened and I think that drove it home that I was doing the right thing,” he says. “Logan Boulet’s story came out, and it definitely influenced me to give my kidney to somebody else. Boulet didn’t know any of the people who got his organs.”

According to the Canadian Transplant Society, 90 per cent Canadians support organ donation, yet less than 20 per cent are actually registered.

In 2018, Calgary MP Len Webber had a bill passed unanimously by the House of Commons aimed at adding a question to federal tax returns asking a person if they consent to becoming a donor. The bill died in the Senate ahead of last year’s federal election, though it was revived in the House this winter.

In the Alberta Legislature, MLA Matthew Jones has proposed to make organ donation opt-out, meaning every citizen would be automatically registered to be a donor until they chose not to. That motion is awaiting second reading.

Joyce Van Deurzen, Executive Director of the Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan branches of the Canadian Kidney Foundation, says in an ideal world we could all follow the example of Kinsella, and before him, Boulet.

“Every organ donor is a hero. We have two kidneys and really only need one, so if we qualify, it’s an incredible way to change someone’s life,” Van Deurzen says. “When you do register to be an organ and tissue donor, it’s a promise that someday you hope to be a donor, and that really gives hope to everybody waiting for a transplant.”

Donors, who are generally very healthy prior to donating, face minimal post-operation health requirements. It’s typically an annual blood and urine test.

As Van Deurzen also notes, the Kidney Foundation has what’s called LODERP, or the Living Organ Donor Expense Reimbursement Program. It is meant to cover the costs of travel, loss of income, accommodations and meals for a living donor.

“We need to celebrate the incredible legacy of Logan Boulet and the effect he has generated across Canada,” she adds. “We need to be inspired to have that talk with our family.”

According to the Kidney Foundation of Canada, there are approximately 21,500 Canadians living with a functioning kidney transplant, while 4,300 are waiting for an organ. Three quarters of those are awaiting a kidney.

Of all kidney transplants, approximately 28 per cent are from living donors.

“As it has always been, the gift of organ and tissue donations saves many lives and enhances quality of life for many others. Just one organ and tissue donor can save up to eight lives and make life better for up to 75 other people,” says Heather Kipling, Alberta Health Services Communications.

“Medical experts and administrative leadership from across Canada are meeting multiple times weekly to continue to assess the changing COVID-19 situation and impacts it may have on organ donation and transplant surgeries. In some cases, transplant surgeries may be postponed as we review on a case-by-case basis.”

For more information about organ donation, visit GreenShirtDay.ca, Kidney.ca and CanadianTransplant.com.

(www.Facebook.com/GreenShirtDay)