By creator to www.vancouverisawesome.com
Stephen Gillis wanted a brand new kidney, however an identical donor might be extremely difficult to seek out.
Stephen Gillis loves hockey. The sport has at all times been part of his life. From his years as a participant during to at the moment the place he coaches minor hockey. He’s a mentor. A good friend to many.
And in 2018, he almost misplaced his life.
“I’ve lived with Crohn’s illness for a few years and once I grew to become actually sick, I assumed it was my Crohn’s appearing up,” says Gillis. “It was a shock to seek out out I developed a uncommon type of kidney illness and misplaced over 90 per cent of my kidney perform. A kidney transplant from a residing donor was my solely choice.”
Gillis wanted a brand new kidney, however an identical donor might be extremely difficult to seek out.
When the youngsters he coaches discovered about his well being, they rallied behind their coach and made a video calling for everybody to get examined to see in the event that they had been a match.
The video took the hockey world by storm and went viral. And within the days that adopted, an previous good friend of Gillis’s — Michael Teigen — noticed it and determined to get examined.
Teigen was a match.
With a donor now obtainable, Dr. David Harriman, transplant urologist at Vancouver Normal Hospital (VGH), had an opportunity to save lots of Gillis’s life.
“There’s a number of challenges with surgical procedure comparable to this,” says Dr. Harriman. “My fellowship director would at all times say that transplantation is the final word group recreation – it includes our nurses, housekeeping workers, transplant surgeons, transplant nephrologists … it includes all of us working collectively to attempt to optimize the result.”
Stephen Gillis together with his good friend and kidney donor Michael Teigen. Each males had their surgical procedures at Vancouver Normal Hospital after Teigen found he was an appropriate donor, saving Gillis’s life. Picture offered by VGH & UBC Hospital Basis.
The reward of life
Gillis and Teigen’s surgical procedures had been carried out at VGH, considered one of solely two hospitals within the province in a position to carry out kidney transplants. As a significant supplier for stable organ transplants in B.C., and one of many largest in Canada, VGH conducts greater than 100 transplants annually.
Underneath the professional care of Dr. Harriman and his group, the transplant was a roaring success. Each Gillis and Teigen had textbook procedures. No problems. And each males felt in addition to might be following surgical procedure.
Stephen recovered so properly, actually, he went and coached a recreation the day after he was launched from hospital. It was solely 5 days after his surgical procedure.
“Michael gave me the reward of life,” says Gillis. “It was a tremendous, selfless act by a beautiful human being.”
Honour your Angel
It took a neighborhood to save lots of Gillis’s life. It was his angels: from the youngsters he coached and the exceptional good friend who gave an extremely selfless and life-changing reward, to the well being care specialists who cared for each of them.
“Stephen’s story is a really heartwarming story that was solely made potential due to giving,” says Angela Chapman, President & CEO of VGH & UBC Hospital Basis. “Stephen gave a lot of himself in being a coach. The youngsters gave again what they may and touched the guts of an previous good friend, who fairly actually gave a chunk of himself to save lots of Stephen’s life. With out giving, this story doesn’t have a contented ending. Your donations can and do save and enhance lives.”
You might be an vital a part of that neighborhood. Go to vghfoundation.ca/vghangel to donate to VGH & UBC Hospital Basis at the moment and help our hospitals and well being care centres, together with buying essential tools, funding high-impact analysis tasks, and advancing affected person care to ship BC’s finest, most specialised well being look after adults, saving lives like Stephen Gillis’s each single day
Study extra concerning the Angel marketing campaign by visiting vghfoundation.ca.
