Veterans Affairs formally rejects retired major’s request in case related to failing kidneys

Months after mailing a letter to Canada’s Veterans Affairs minister, a retired major’s unique plea for help with a service-related disability has been rejected.

“I think it is fundamentally inconceivable and inexcusable that Veterans Affairs is treating a veteran of 28 years of service to Canada in this manner, when I most need their service,” says Ret. Maj. Bruce Sand.

The Shawnigan Lake man has been asking the federal government to pay for the travel costs of a friend in Zimbabwe who has volunteered to donate his kidney to Sand in Canada when Sand’s window for transplant opens up. The veteran has a type of kidney disease that’s been linked to his service with the Canadian Armed Forces in Haiti. He says he found his own living donor who appears to be a match.

“He said, ‘Are you sure about that?’” said potential donor Mike Gurney in an August interview.

“I said, ‘Yup, I’m sure about that.’ Bruce is somebody I really admire.”

Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight’s letter to Sand says the department does not have authority to cover health-related travel for a third party. The funds are intended for the patient getting treatment.

“The person who funds the King’s purse is you and I, the taxpayer,” says Sand. “Those taxpayer dollars are better spent in getting me a transplant than having me on dialysis for the rest of my life. Regardless of where the money is coming from, which pot it’s coming from, it’s still a taxpayer’s dollar. And I don’t think they’ve done that cost-benefit analysis.”

Sand’s Conservative member of Parliament for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford Jeff Kibble says he’s encouraging the veteran’s medical team to seek special authority through Veterans Affairs, and calling for the minister to collaborate.

“While I must honour his privacy, it’s clear this is no ordinary case: He faces life-threatening complications and has found an unconventional transplant pathway from abroad,” says Kibble. “Canada’s duty of care to those who have served knows no bounds.”

Sand says his plea for help isn’t over. He plans to appeal and petition for changes to Veterans Affairs regulations to protect others who may end up in a similar situation.

“I will not give up. I believe I owe it to those that I served with to continue with this fight until some sort of resolution is made,” he says.