Alberta’s only person to make two living organ donations is hoping her story will inspire others to consider giving a piece of themselves away while still alive. “I encourage people to just take a moment, put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Just because a person is a stranger doesn’t mean they’re less deserving of what we have to offer,” said double donor Meghan Rozema. Rozema said her parents were regular blood donors, but she decided to explore giving more after seeing a plea for a kidney donor on social media. “I was going to donate a kidney and when I called Alberta Health Services, they said, “Well, actually, if you’d like to donate part of your liver, you have to do that first.’ And so I had to kind of think that through,” Rozema said. She said she made her decision after her family friends had a baby girl die while waiting for a liver transplant. “It was a no-brainer after that,” she added. Rozema donated a piece of her liver anonymously in 2021. Two years later she donated a kidney anonymously after the person she planned to give it to died before the transplant could take place. Registered nurse and Give Life Alberta living donor coordinator Cassandra Garneau called Rozema “a hero.” “She made that extraordinary decision to help two people, and in her case, complete strangers,” Carneau said. “She would be the first person to minimize the importance of her decisions, but she’s a hero multiple times over.” Garneau said 53 people died waiting for an organ in Alberta last year and there are currently more than 500 Albertans waiting for an organ. “It’s a huge number of people,” she added. “And the deceased organ donors are far [fewer] than the people that are waiting for these transplants.” According to Give Life Alberta, one organ donor can save up to eight lives – with hundreds of Albertans waiting for “life-saving’ transplants. It can take months of testing before a donor is approved. Rozema said she spent six days in hospital after her liver donation, with another three months spent recovering; the kidney was a bit easier. “With the kidney donation, within two weeks, I was back to modified exercise. Smooth sailing with the kidneys – two days in the hospital and then I’m home.” Liver, kidneys, placenta, and bones and tendons can all be donated while a person is alive. The kidney is the most common live donation and Garneau said 71 of 75 live donors last year donated one; but liver, placenta, bones and tendons can all be donated while someone is alive. Give Life Alberta said both donor and recipient livers grow back to full size within weeks of transplants; for people who donate a kidney, the organization said their remaining one adjusts to keep things working. “They are giving a piece of them, but they can still live a healthy life,” Garneau said. “For the recipients, it’s getting their lives back,” she added. “For livers, it means getting a chance to live, and for kidneys … you get off dialysis.” Rozema said she’s healthy and has no long-term ill effects resulting from her two donations. She said the surgeries were a “minor inconvenience” compared to what recipients are living with. “Knowing people who need transplants, just taking a moment to reflect on what life would be like for them to be on dialysis or to be in the hospital waiting for a liver transplant. It’s a very sad way for people to live,” she said. Albertans can choose what parts of themselves they would like donated after death when registering as an organ donor. They can also register to leave their entire body, organs and all, to science. Albertans can register to become an organ and tissue donor on myhealth.alberta.ca. They can choose what they would like to donate, or opt to donate their entire body to science. More information on the kinds of donation available can be found on the Give Life Alberta website. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Noah Rishaug
