Two-time organ recipient designs Green Shirt Day logo years after Humboldt bus crash
Two-time organ recipient designs Green Shirt Day logo years after Humboldt bus crash
Brandy Hehn, 39, poses for a photo at her home in Regina on March 16, 2023. The two-time organ recipient designed this year's Green Shirt Day logo for the five-year anniversary of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell)
Brandy Hehn was a regular in the kidney dialysis unit at the Regina General Hospital when the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash happened five years ago.
Sixteen people died and 13 were injured after a transport truck went through a stop sign and into the path of a bus carrying the Saskatchewan junior hockey team on April 6, 2018.
Hehn, now 39, remembers a nurse walking into the room where she was getting a dialysis treatment a couple days later and commenting on the crash.
"She said, 'Did you know one of the boys was an organ donor?"' Hehn recalled in an interview from Regina.
"I said, 'No, I had no idea."'
Hehn was not on a recipient list at that time, but she said everyone in the room looked around and wondered if anyone they knew got their long-awaited kidney transplant.
Logan Boulet, 21, had signed up to be an organ donor on his birthday -- five weeks before the bus crash.
Six people across Canada benefited from Boulet's organs and the Logan Boulet Effect soon followed. Canadian Blood Services said nearly 150,000 Canadians registered to be donors in the two months after learning he had signed his donor card.
It led to Green Shirt Day every April 7, the anniversary of Boulet's death, to promote organ donor awareness and registration across Canada.
Hehn, a multimedia designer who's now a two-time organ recipient, created this year's T-shirt -- its design inspired by the Pittsburgh Penguins logo and team captain, Sidney Crosby, whom Boulet admired since he was a boy. It includes 29 gold stars for everyone on the bus, two hockey sticks for those who put them on their porches after the crash and the social media #LoganBouletEffect.
Dr. Sam Shemie, medical adviser for deceased organ donation with Canadian Blood Services, said donations have been "relatively steady" in the five years since Boulet's death.
"Bless that family for what they've done in his honour," he said in an interview.
The Logan Boulet Effect, said Shemie, continues to start conversations.
"Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have registered their decisions about organ donation or had a conversation with people they love about how they feel about it."
Logan's father, Toby Boulet, said his family felt it was important to talk about his son's donation from the beginning and it ballooned from there.
"Logan's story has touched a lot of people," he said. "It's hard to believe it has been five years."
Boulet added that Hehn's T-shirt design for Green Shirt Day this year is "really cool" and her personal story is inspiring.
"She's from Saskatchewan and she's doing really well," he said. "It can't always be the Boulets saying the story. It's got its own legs in all corners of the country and into the (United) States. That's what we want."
Hehn's story started when she was having mysterious medical symptoms as a teenager.
"They kind of mimicked arthritis," she explained. "My knees would swell up. I would be out at a party in Southey, Sask., and I would have to hang out in a car because I couldn't move my legs."
She had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes three years earlier.
Two weeks after her Grade 12 grad, Hehn got another diagnosis: autoimmune hepatitis, a rare liver disease that occurs when the body's immune system turns against its liver cells. The cause is unclear, but it could be triggered by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
By her early 20s, Hehn needed a liver transplant. She got one when she was 25.
Her kidneys didn't do well as her liver was failing. Doctors told her to also expect a kidney transplant in the next decade.
"I started dialysis in 2016," she said. "I had six per cent kidney function."
Hehn, who was in her early 30s at the time, said dialysis was "zero fun."
She worked during the day, then went to the hospital in the evenings for several hours three times a week.
In 2020, Hehn got a new kidney from a deceased donor.
"It is completely like a new life," she said.
Shemie, also an intensive care doctor at Montreal Children's Hospital and McGill University, said thousands of Canadians are waiting for an organ transplant and hundreds die each year.
"Ninety per cent of Canadians say they support organ donation, but only about 32 per cent of them have actually registered their decision," he said. "If you support it, register your decision or talk to your family."
Hehn, who initially told her story as a recipient in an online video, said she wanted to tell people there are young people like her who benefit from organ donations -- and thank donors such as Logan Boulet.
"When you hear (his family) talk about it firsthand, it's the most heart-wrenching thing you will ever hear," she said.
"We don't know who Logan's recipients are, but putting a face to a recipient ... it's important to show."
Hehn said she's inspired by the Boulets.
"As euphoric as it is to get a kidney," she said, her voice breaking, "it pales in comparison to the pain you hear from them.
"They make me tear up every time."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 26, 2023.
Three national health organizations want Canada's premiers to push for initiatives to reduce smoking during settlement negotiations with major tobacco companies, years after provinces sued to recoup health-care costs.
A 'truly innocent' engaged couple was shot dead while attempting to flee their attacker outside their home after a landlord-tenant dispute escalated on Saturday night, according to police.
Farmers in Atlantic Canada are growing increasingly worried about drought, as many regions on the east coast have been classified as drier than usual for this time of year, with little rain in the forecast.
The discussions, which some companies call 'stay interviews,' are designed to collect feedback from employees and are aimed at learning what the company can do to retain valued team members and keep them happy.
Albertans head to the polls on provincial election day, an engaged Ontario couple is shot dead while fleeing their landlord, and Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins a fifth term as president.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars.
W5 Producer Shelley Ayres explains how she was in awe to meet what the Guinness Book of World Record's has named the World's Tallest Teenager, a 17-year-old from Quebec who plays for Team Canada.
CTV W5 investigates what authorities knew about plans to smuggle cocaine out of the Dominican Republic on a Toronto-bound Pivot Airlines flight. The airline's crew is demanding justice following their eight-month detention.
Gordie Sampson has written hit songs for some of the biggest names in country music, including Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan. CTV W5 speaks with the Grammy winner from small-town Nova Scotia about his creative process.
A CTV W5 investigation reveals that a critical shortage of volunteer firefighters in this country is having a potentially deadly impact, especially in rural Canada.
Sandie Rinaldo tells the story of the largest Black military unit in Canadian history, whose members had to fight to serve for Canada in the First World War as they faced rampant racism at home.
Toronto mayoral candidate Olivia Chow continues to lead the pack with less than a month until voters cast their ballot, according to two new polls released on Monday.
A 'truly innocent' engaged couple was shot dead while attempting to flee their attacker outside their home after a landlord-tenant dispute escalated on Saturday night, according to police.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and several councillors will outline the 2023 construction season projects during a media conference on Slater Street at 10:30 a.m., including potential traffic impacts.
There was an entire operation set up by the Ottawa Hospital, only steps from the finish line for Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend with more than 100 health professionals ready for anything that could go wrong this weekend.
More than 200 passengers were stuck on a VIA Rail train near Alexandria, Ont. for several hours Sunday evening, after a mechanical issue stopped the train.
The Municipality of Meaford has declared an emergency days after a fire tore through an automotive shop, causing water safety concerns for the community.
Hospitals in smaller and rural Ontario communities have been recruiting, training, and poring over schedules in the hopes of avoiding another summer wave of temporary ER closures -- though the problem never really went away.
A "community-led" referendum is asking thousands of Ontarians to weigh in on whether the privatization of the province's healthcare system is good for the future.
Rania Mukhtar is still processing her recent trip to Sudan, which was interrupted by the outbreak of military conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Ager Hasan being found guilty of second-degree murder, a Cambridge woman climbing Mount Everest, and free tuition for some First Nations students round out the most-read stories of the week.
A 'truly innocent' engaged couple was shot dead while attempting to flee their attacker outside their home after a landlord-tenant dispute escalated on Saturday night, according to police.
Clear skies, heat and sunshine continue through the region for at least the next week. The normal high for this time of year is around 22 C and the low around 11 C.
A change in venue has the Dare 2B Challenged event running in the right direction. 250 people took part in the all-female event Sunday morning at Holiday Beach
A Laval, Que. family says a crosswalk in front of their house is an accident waiting to happen. They say too many cars don't stop, leading them to worry each time their child has to cross the street. "It's as if it's not even there," said resident Chris Horell, who lives near to the intersection of Saint-Martin Blvd W and Dutrisac St.
A teenage driver is in critical condition in the hospital after he crashed his vehicle into a concrete wall and then another vehicle in Montreal's Saint-Leonard borough. Montreal police (SPVM) reports that a 911 call at 1:40 a.m. notified officers about a collision on Langelier Boulevard near Lavoisier Boulevard.
A pair of valuable musical instruments have been removed from a Montreal heritage building that caught fire last week, raising hopes that they can be saved to play again. Simon Blanchet, programming director at the Chapelle du Bon-Pasteur, said Sunday a Fazioli concert grand piano and a 1772 Kirckman harpsichord were both removed from the concert venue inside the chapel of the 19th century former monastery a day earlier.
Residents in Point Douglas say their area has become a dumping ground for the rest of the city's unwanted garbage, and want more done to get rid of the piles of trash accumulating in the central-Winnipeg neighbourhood.
Both Smith and Notley agree the vote will be one of the most consequential in decades, featuring two leaders in their 50s who have been both premier and Opposition leader.
Thousands of runners laced up their shoes and toed the line for the 59th annual Calgary Marathon Calgary Marathon on Sunday, including a 92-year-old rookie, a pair of world record setting runners handcuffed to each other, and a Ukrainian runner who paid tribute to her homeland.
After spending some time in Calgary over the weekend, NDP leader Rachel Notley wrapped up her campaign today with two rallies on the way home to Edmonton ahead of election day.
Fire activity in Alberta picked up overnight Saturday, with Alberta Wildfire counting 57 wildfires Sunday afternoon, including 17 which were classified as out of control.
Friends, family and supporters met at the bottom of Walterdale Hill for a walk honouring Lauren Jarvis and to raise money for the Victims of Homicide Support Society.
A survey by Vancouver city staff has concluded that SROs, or single room occupancy buildings — often deemed a last resort for housing — are becoming increasingly unaffordable for those on income assistance.
On Monday, West Vancouver mayor and council will vote on a motion to name a new fitness park after Keen Lau, who drowned while trying to save Labrador Loki from Cypress Creek. And they will hear from Loki’s dog walker Sandra Smith, who is advocating for changes to the creek.
One of the so-called godfathers of artificial intelligence says governments need to move faster on regulations to protect against the dangers of the rapidly advancing technology, before it poses a larger threat to humanity.
With just four weeks left until the House of Commons breaks for the summer, the weekly panel of political strategists on CTV's Question Period says it's likely time for the prime minister to shuffle his cabinet.
Three national health organizations want Canada's premiers to push for initiatives to reduce smoking during settlement negotiations with major tobacco companies, years after provinces sued to recoup health-care costs.
Three national health organizations want Canada's premiers to push for initiatives to reduce smoking during settlement negotiations with major tobacco companies, years after provinces sued to recoup health-care costs.
North Korea on Monday notified neighbouring Japan that it plans to launch a satellite in coming days, which may be an attempt to put Pyongyang's first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit.
China plans to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, in what would be another advance in what's increasingly seen as a new space race pitting the Asian autocracy against the United States and its democratic allies.
It is a world wrapped in mystery - the seventh planet from the sun, Uranus, seen up close just once nearly four decades ago by a passing NASA probe and still warily guarding its secrets.
With the end of the critically acclaimed drama's fourth and final season, dedicated fans of "Succession" now know the answer to the series' central question: Which of the Murdoch-esque Roy family siblings will prevail?
Several Jewish groups, politicians and an alliance of civil society groups gathered for a memorial ceremony and a protest rally against a concert by Roger Waters in Frankfurt on Sunday evening.
The reviews are starting to come in as details emerge about the debt ceiling agreement reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Asian shares are mostly higher after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a final agreement on a deal to raise the U.S. national debt ceiling, though the measure requires approval by Congress.
A new report is casting doubt on the idea that Canada is facing a widespread labour shortage and bolsters the arguments by some labour economists that high job vacancies aren't due to a shortage of workers.
It's a joyous day for Eve, resident falcon at the Université de Montreal: her babies are hatching. The event is being live-streamed on Sunday from a nest box atop the 23rd floor of a tower on campus.
Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand capped off the longest week on the LPGA Tour with a 3-and-1 victory Sunday to win the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play over Ayaka Furue of Japan.
Formula One champion Max Verstappen's lights-to-flag victory at the Monaco Grand gave the Red Bull driver his fourth victory of the season and a record 39th overall for the team as he extended his championship lead to 39 points over teammate Sergio Perez on Sunday.
A Tennessee company is refusing demands from U.S. regulators to recall millions of vehicles due to airbag inflators that can explode and shoot shrapnel into drivers. While cases are rare, there has been at least one death in Canada, where officials lack the authority to demand a similarly sweeping recall.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most famous endurance race, will be open to hydrogen-powered cars starting in 2026, Pierre Fillon, the president of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, said Saturday.
Brandy Hehn, 39, poses for a photo at her home in Regina on March 16, 2023. The two-time organ recipient designed this year's Green Shirt Day logo for the five-year anniversary of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell)
