A Life Changing Choice: A Liver for Karla: COVID-19 concerns hours ahead of surgery

Life Changing Choice: A Liver for Karla (Part 1) Bruce Frisko shares the captivating account of his sister's organ transplant journey in part one of a new five-part series.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This series was produced by veteran CTV Atlantic Anchor & Reporter Bruce Frisko, documenting his sister's successful liver transplant surgery in May of 2022. Karla Frisko found a match in Scott Watson, a co-worker who was inspired to sign up for living donor testing after hearing her story. Although liver transplants are performed across Canada, living donor programs are not available in some provinces.

It's the first of May 2022, and with the promise of spring ever closer, Edmontonians anticipate longer, warmer days after a long winter slumber.

A new beginning.

In an Airbnb in Southwest Edmonton, my sister, Karla Frisko, welcomes Scott Watson and his husband, Joe Connors, into the unit.

After exchanging hugs and acknowledging the television camera, Scott turns semi-serious, telling Karla he brought her a gift.

"I figured, 'You can never have enough napkins,'” he says, handing her a bundle with a mischievous smile.

Karla immediately begins to laugh, and displays the message on the package.

"Shut up, liver -- you're fine," it reads.

“That's good, right?" says Scott, laughing with everyone else.

The levity is appreciated, even necessary.

It's the eve of perhaps the biggest day in the lives of Karla Frisko and Scott Watson.

Approved for the transplant list in July of 2021, Karla waited months, hoping for a donor as her liver disease progressed to the inevitable.

Friends and family lined up for testing, but none proved suitable.

Discouraged, Karla mentioned it on a conference call at work, and Scott was inspired to put his name forward for testing.

The match was perfect.

The stunning act of generosity was made even more remarkable by the fact they hardly knew each other: co-workers at Sunlife Financial who'd never even met in person.

Now, though, with surgery scheduled first thing in the morning, a complication.

"Last night, Scott got a phone call from the University of Alberta to tell him that his COVID-19 test had come back 'indeterminate,'" said Karla. "And so, if he tests positive, that simply means our surgery is delayed."

It would be a crushing disappointment after the flurry of activity that got them to this point.

"This is our last day before we go in for a pretty major surgery -- a life-saving surgery," said Scott. "But also having to wait for that COVID-19 test to come back negative adds an extra layer of worry."

With surgical teams booked and the clock ticking down, there are fears COVID-19 could derail the plans, which feel serendipitous: Scott was born and spent his early years in Halifax, a city I've called home since 1995.

"All of my extended family, cousin and all of them still live in Halifax and Cape Breton," said Scott. "So, my story's made it back there, and it's starting to be shared on social media, through Facebook and other platforms, so it is becoming bigger than I ever expected it to be."

"And I'm from Newfoundland, and Newfoundlanders are quite proud of their own," added Joe Connors. "So, by proxy, they're quite proud of Scott and everything that's he's been going through right now."

After a couple of hours of small talk over coffee, the news finally comes in a text message.

"Negative! Negative COVID-19 test," said Scott. "PCR is good!"

"Karla, how do you feel about that?" I ask my sister.

"I'm super-excited," she says. "We're moving ahead."

And so they are, with both heading to hospital in just a few hours: one by chance, and one by choice.

A new beginning just ahead of the biggest day of their lives.

Keep an eye out for Part Two of Life-Changing Choice – A Liver for Karla, airing Tuesday on CTV News at Five.