If Valley East's Richard Giroux doesn't receive a liver transplant, he will die.
After his close family members discovered they weren't matches for a liver donation, they started to reach out to the public for help.
Giroux was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis in late 2014, which has caused his liver to fail.
“He's in bed most of the time,” said his wife Joanne Giroux.
Because his liver can't effectively filter toxins from his blood, Giroux is often lethargic and nauseous.
In April his doctors added him to the liver transplant waiting list at Toronto General Hospital, but unless he can find a live donor, the wait could last two years.
A live liver transplant would also improve Giroux's chances of for longterm survivial.
The University of Toronto Health Network says there is a 15 per cent survival advantage for those who undergo live donor liver transplantation compared with those who wait for a deceased donor organ.
Live donation also provides the recipient with a high quality organ, whereas around 35 per cent of deceased donor organs are less than ideal due to advanced donor age, mild to moderate liver abnormalities and incomplete knowledge of the donor’s health history.
Eugene Melnyk, the owner of the Ottawa Senators, made national headlines when he made a public plea for a live liver donation.
More than 500 potential donors volunteered, and doctors selected a donor from 12 potential candidates for the procedure.
Joanne said she holds no grudge against Melnyk, and the advantages his fame and fortune – his net worth is reportedly $1 billion – granted him.
“More power to him,” she said. “He went out, and he promoted himself, and he got it.”
But Joanne said she hopes strangers can take similar steps to come forward for her husband.
“He wants to live,” she said. “He has a family, he has two beautiful grandkids.”
Surgeons at the Toronto General Hospital have performed more than 500 live liver transplant procedures since 1996, and there have not been any donor deaths, nor major and persistent complications in that time.
But the surgery is as serious procedure, and up to 40 per cent of donors do experience some complications, although most are mild and temporary.
The University of Toronto Health Network operates a living donor program and anyone interested to make a liver donation to Giroux, or to anyone else, can choose to go through the thorough vetting process.
The network provides living donors with extensive manuals on liver and kidney donations, and a detailed donor health history form.
Any potential donors can choose to identify Giroux on the form if they wish to donate to him specifically, they should also note he is listed as a patient at Toronto General Hospital, and was born on April 22, 1959.
The family also encourages people to sign up as organ donors by visiting beadonor.ca. One person's organ donations can save up to eight lives.
The Giroux family is also hosting a fundraiser, to cover the high costs associated with frequent travel to Toronto, through a men's slow pitch tournament and BBQ at the Centennial Community Centre in Hanmer of July 4 and 5.
NorthernLife.ca received several questions regarding Giroux's blood type. His wife informed us that he's Type A, so she said he can recieve types A or O, positive or negative.
