REGINA – The province has launched an awareness campaign highlighting the importance of organ and tissue donation in the province.
The campaign coincides with the dedication of the month of April as National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Month. The awareness blitz will highlight the website givelifesask.ca and include stories of three Saskatchewan individuals impacted directly.
According to the province’s news release those include Kyla Thomson, mother of her late daughter, Bella Thomson, known as "Bella Brave" who underwent a bowel transplant after years waiting for an organ donation; Indigenous artist Kevin Wesaquate whose artwork honours organ donors; and Monica Keet, a Donor Coordinator with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
All three are included in videos that are being used as part of the campaign that will run on social media and elsewhere.
They were on hand for a launch event at the Legislature on Tuesday for the awareness campaign. Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said the hope is to increase the numbers of people already on the donor registry.
“We've got about 34,000 folks in the province as part of this registry right now,” Cockrill said.
"You know, let's be really frank about that. That's about three per cent of the eligible population. And, you know, I think campaigns like this are important really to bring out the stories that are real for Saskatchewan families and healthcare providers right across our province.”
As for how many more people Cockrill hopes to see sign up, he said “well, four is better than three, and five is better than four, and so on.”
“We look forward to seeing the results of this campaign. I think we want to see that number higher… certainly this is where we recognize the importance of this for folks to have access to really something that can save their life at the end of the day and improve the quality of life and really the outcomes for themselves and their families.”
Those involved in the campaign spoke of their reasons why they took part.
“My daughter Bella's life was deeply shaped by organ donation,” Kyla Thomson said. “It gave us more time with her. Time we otherwise wouldn't have had. And that's something I will forever be grateful for. Since losing her, I felt a strong responsibility to carry forward her legacy in the way she lived. With courage, compassion and a heart for others…
“If there's one thing I can ask, in honour of my late daughter Bella, is to please consider registering as an organ and tissue donor. This decision has the power to save lives. To give families more time. And to create hope in the middle of the unimaginable. Helping to share this message is one way I can keep my daughter's brave legacy alive. And I'm so grateful to be standing here today to do that.”
Wesaquate has since been using his artwork to advocate for as many First Nations people to become organ and tissue donors, and said that art and self-expression is “one of the ways that we get to share within ourselves. We're sharing part of our emotional and our spiritual sense.”
Wesaquate was motivated by his mother, who had been scheduled for a double lung transplant but did not make it.
He said he was "just using my creative instincts to try to build upon that and see if there's anything that I could do, whether it's the visual art, which is already happening. I'm doing a painting for St. Paul's Hospital. I've also done some paintings for the Saskatchewan Health Authority. And that's basically where it all started out, with the visual art and the painting.”
Keet shared the story of Erin Fuchs, who wrote a letter about how her late son Wyatt had saved four lives through organ donation.
“Wyatt was 30 years old and gave four people a second chance at life. Four families that didn't have to say goodbye to their loved ones. And Erin wanted us to say to every person listening, If sharing Wyatt's story helps even one more person make the choice to become an organ donor, to save one more person's life, then Wyatt's life continues to make a difference.”
