Canadian Trail riders raise $55K for transplant patients

Most lung transplant patients and their families are faced with financial hardships before, during and following their surgery. In addition to loss of income because of inability to continue working, they must maintain their home residences and face double living expenses because they must live near their transplant center while waiting for their transplant and during the three-month follow-up. I salute the Trail Riders for this very successful project which will greatly help patients and families.

CBC NEWS

A group of lung transplant recipients hit the trail to raise $55,000 for organ transplant patients and their families.

Called the 2nd Chance Trail Ride, the riders gathered near Elk Point, in northeast Alberta, in May.

Riders from the 2nd Chance Trail Ride raised $55,000 to build and furnish an apartment suite to benefit organ transplant patients and their families at the University of Alberta. (CBC)

Double-lung transplant recipient Harvey Nelson was one of the participants in the trail ride.

A lifelong rider, Nelson was forced to quit horseback riding as his health deteriorated. Once he got the transplant, he said his life completely changed.

“It’s given me just a total second chance on life,” he said.

Now, he and his fellow riders are hoping to help others make the same dramatic recovery by donating the funds to theGoodHeartsFoundation.

The foundation will use the cash to build and furnish a new suite near the University of Alberta for transplant patients and their families to use while going through the transplant process, which takes about three months.

“The apartment gives [families] a chance to be here and be with their loved one that is going through the transplant,” said Nelson. “So it makes quite a difference to the families that are doing it.”

In addition to building the apartment, Nelson also hopes the trail-ridersfundraising efforts will help raise awareness about the need for organ donations.

“We need more [organ donations] because there's quite a waiting list for it,” he said.

“It's difficult to go through life when you know you need a transplant and there isn't an organ there for you.“

The U of A hospital is Canada’s biggest and busiest transplant centre.*

*I believe this is a typo and originally meant to say that U of A hospital is Alberta's busiest transplant center, not Canada's. Toronto's University Health Network Multi-Organ Transplant Program is Canada's biggest and busiest, with over 400 organ transplants yearly and follow-up with more than 5,000 patients.

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