Newmarket's Brandy Robertson didn't hesitate when her dad needed part of her liver, and when she was asked to share her story to raise awareness for living organ donation.
"My dad had been sick since I think I was in high school, he had always had issues with his liver," she said.
The day they found out her dad, Neil Reece, was going on the transplant list in March 2020 was the same day Ontario announced it would be shutting down for the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Robertson said it was a "very interesting day for most people, but we were kind of left like, what do we do now?"
Both she and her sister immediately knew they wanted to be tested as living donors and due to various health reasons, Robertson was found to be the best match.
"I was like, obviously, I'm going to do it, like there's no question in my mind," she said.
Robertson was no stranger to the concept of living organ donors. Her husband runs a non-profit called the PKD Foundation of Canada that promotes research and raises awareness to discover treatments and a cure for polycystic kidney disease.
"Just being involved in my husband's non-profit, in that community, I've met some extraordinary people that have donated [kidneys] anonymously," she said.
On top of that, her mother-in-law had been the recipient of two liver transplants in the past.
The day of surgery was July 28, 2021. Robertson said she believes it was delayed due to COVID-19.
"The whole year leading up to that day was just obviously a little chaotic because I was getting all of my testing and work-up during the pandemic, which wasn't an easy feat," she said.
After the procedure, Robertson said she spent about eight weeks recovering. During that time she wasn't able to drive, lie on her side, and had difficulty walking.
"I'm not going to lie, it was extremely difficult. I think just because I was just so gung ho about everything, I didn't think of what it was going to be like for myself afterwards," she said.
The transplant was a success but, ultimately, it wasn't the happy ending they had hoped for. Reece had got much sicker in the time leading up the transplant and he never went home from the hospital.
"It didn't work out, but even knowing what I know now, I would have still have done it because he got another 113 days, which he probably wouldn't have had," Robertson said, adding that she has no regrets.
She is sharing her story as part of the Great Actions campaign by the University Health Network's Centre for Living Organ Donation. She said she wanted to take part after the "whirlwind of emotions" she has experienced after losing her dad.
"We always had a big joke that we were going to celebrate the transplant by showing off our scars. And my Dad had made a joke about he was going to wear a crop top," she said. "I thought what's a bigger platform than to do a national campaign where you fully see my scars? So go big or go home, right?"
Through the campaign, she did indeed take photos of herself without a shirt, showing off her scar. She also made a video.
"You see the impact directly and it changes your life," she said in the video.
The Great Actions campaign aims to raise awareness about living organ donation, to celebrate donors, recipients, transplant teams and caregivers, and to give hope to those who are waiting for an organ transplant.
