.jpg;w=120;h=120;mode=crop){kind=avatar}
For North Vancouver resident Margaret Benson, December is always a time of profound gratitude.
It was in early December, 23 years ago, that Benson got the call that would change her life.
They had a set of lungs.
At 40, Benson got a second chance at life, thanks to a double lung transplant and the work of countless medical staff.
On Thursday, Benson joined fellow transplant recipient Elizabeth Edward to hand out gift boxes of popcorn to medical staff at Lions Gate Hospital – part of an annual special delivery from B.C. Transplant that happens every December.
It’s a way of giving back to medical staff, said Edward – who received a heart transplant 11 years ago at the age of 50.
Gift baskets say thank you
This week, more than 100 gift packages of popcorn were delivered to 28 hospitals by organ donor recipients and living donors as a way of saying thank you to staff who helped them through the process.
Most hospital staff in ER and ICU wards see more of the tragic side of the transplant story, said Edward, dealing with the families of organ donors in a time of terrible loss.
“Sometimes it’s nice to be able to show them the other side – the happier side of the transplant,” she said.
Both Benson and Edward are living examples of that.
Double lung recipient
Benson was born with cystic fibrosis, and as a teen was given a bleak prognosis. “I was told not to go to university, not to go into teaching,” she said. But Benson refused to accept that and beat the odds for a period of time. She married and became an elementary school teacher in North Vancouver. In her 30s however, her condition worsened. Everything was exhausting.
She was put on the list for a double lung transplant, knowing that her rare blood type lowered the odds considerably.
But at the very end of November, in 1999, she got the call. A short time later, she was wheeled into the operating room at Vancouver General Hospital for a seven-and-a-half-hour surgery. “My life was saved by an anonymous donor,” she said.
Her recovery wasn’t simple. Transplant recipients also face a lifetime of taking anti-rejection drugs. “For sure it was scary. But anything worth doing is scary and hard to do,” she said.
Since then, Benson has been an ambassador for organ donation and has been a medal winner multiple times over in the World Transplant Games – an athletic competition for those who have received organ transplants.
Brother donated kidney to sister
But three years ago, Benson found herself once again facing the prospect of another transplant, this time as her kidneys failed after decades of taking powerful anti-rejection drugs.
She was put on dialysis for six months.
In the case of kidneys, luckily, living donors are also an option. Just this year, 68 organ transplants in B.C. were from living kidney donors.
“I had 10 people step up to be living donors, which was extraordinary,” she said.
Her 73-year-old brother, Jim Phillipson of North Vancouver, was considered the best match.
The surgery went ahead that September, with both Benson and her brother making a full recovery.
A new heart meant second chance
Edward, who also lives in North Vancouver, has a similar heartfelt story.
She was born with an autoimmune disorder that causes toxins to be encapsulated and attach to various organs. In her case, the toxins attacked her heart, causing heart failure over a number of years.
At 44, she collapsed at work – the first sign of a serious problem. Eventually a diagnosis came, along with a deteriorating condition.
“It would take me so long to go out to walk anywhere because you’re walking so slowly,” she said. In heart failure, “your heart might still be pumping, but it’s not doing that much.”
When she was 50, she too got the call that a match had been found.
She left the hospital a week after her transplant. Eleven months later, she was heli-hiking in the mountains.
Both women say December is always a time of reflection for them, knowing their second chances have come through another family’s sorrow.
“I’m here, 23 years later, because someone lost their life, a family lost a loved one,” said Benson.
It’s something she never forgets. “It’s very emotional,” she said. “You’re always thankful.”
As of Dec. 1, there had been 434 transplants performed in B.C. this year, while there were 517 people on the waiting list for organ donation. Most of those on the waiting list are waiting for a kidney transplant. To register as an organ donor go to transplant.bc.ca.
