Fall 2009 Volume 1
Celebrating The Gift of Life
Message from David Foster Founder and Chairman
WhAt’s insiDE A message from David Foster .......1 CEO profile .......................................3 Making a difference..................... 4 Where are they now? .....................6 Did you know? ................................7 DFF launches new website! ..........8
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elcome to the David Foster Foundation’s first newsletter. This is one of a number of exciting new undertakings for our foundation. After many years of helping families within British Columbia with children needing life-saving transplants, four years ago we became a national foundation helping families from across the country, providing emotional and financial support for their nonmedical expenses while their children go through their transplants. The growing number of families that we now help as a result of
this expansion meant we needed a new approach to running our foundation, and on January 1 of this year I appointed Mike Ravenhill our first chief executive officer. Mike’s role is to help us improve the effectiveness of our foundation, to strengthen our partnerships and to increase awareness about the need for more people to become registered organ donors. Mike has been involved with our foundation as well as other charities for many years and brings vision, passion and strong business management skills to our organization. continued on page 2
Kyle, heart transplant at age two, now four years old
brynn, heart transplant
Myth If I am in an accident and the hospital knows I want to be an organ donor, the doctors won’t try to save my life. Fact If you are sick or injured, the number one priority for hospital staff is to save your life. The medical team treating you is separate from the transplant team, and the team coordinating the donation is not notified until all lifesaving efforts have failed and death has been determined. If you have not registered formally as an organ donor, the transplant team would not be notified until your family has consented to the donation.
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As a result of these changes, we have many exciting new plans, which you will be able to read more about in this and future newsletters. We also have a new website (visit our site at www.davidfosterfoundation.com) and are working with our corporate partners and others on ways to make our foundation sustainable for the future and to increase awareness about the importance of become a registered organ donor. Right now more than 3,500 Canadians are waiting for organ transplants, and far too many of these are children. We need to change those numbers, and you can help us – become a registered donor, and save a life! At the heart of our foundation are the families we help as they face
the unimaginable challenge of supporting each other and their child before, during and after their transplant. Over the past 23 years I have been incredibly honoured to be able to give back in this way, and I’m extremely proud that in that time our foundation has helped nearly 500 families and provided millions in direct family support. Thank you for your support as we work to make this the best year yet for the David Foster Foundation and the families we help.
CeO profile Mike Ravenhill
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ike Ravenhill, the new CEO of the David Foster Foundation, is full of energy and enthusiasm for his new job. “I have always had a strong commitment to several charities, among them the David Foster Foundation,” Mike says. “I believe very strongly in giving back and strengthening our communities at the grassroots level, and this job provides a unique opportunity for me to help do just that.” His history with the foundation (both as a past board chair and director) combined with his extensive experience in the business community running, expanding and restructuring businesses, make Mike an ideal fit for the job of the foundation’s CEO. His strengths include the areas of planning, finance, customer service, sales and marketing. One of the things Mike is most passionate about in his new role is increasing public awareness about the importance of becoming a registered organ donor. “In Canada there are thousands of people on wait lists for organ transplants, and although about 80 per cent of Canadians say they support being a registered
“becoming a registered organ donor is so simple and easy to do, and it can save so many lives – what could be better than that?” organ donor, only 14 per cent are actually registered. The tragedy of these statistics is that 40 per cent of all people waiting for an organ today die waiting for an organ. “Far too many people have not yet taken the step,” Mike says. “It’s one of our goals to work with our partners across the country to increase the number of people who are registered and improve the chances that more people will get the transplants they need.” In addition to improving the foundation’s endowment fund that helps families of children needing life-saving transplants with their non-medical expenses, Mike is working with the foundation board and the foundation’s corporate sponsors to build a new grassroots volunteer program. Through this program, which is scheduled to
begin later this fall, organizations, communities and individuals in each province can partner with the David Foster Foundation to help raise awareness about the importance of becoming registered organ donors. “I’m very excited about this project. The potential it has for raising awareness at the grassroots level and increasing the number of registered organ donors across Canada is enormous,” Mike says. “Becoming a registered organ donor is so simple and easy to do, and it can save so many lives. What could be better than that?”
Myth I’m not the right age to be a donor. Fact There are no age limits for organ donation. Organs may be donated from someone as young as a newborn and as old as 90. The liver, in particular, does not age like other organs, and livers are commonly donated by people in their 70s and 80s.
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Denice Klavano with DFF CeO Mike ravenhill
Making a difference – Denice Klavano “i believe that in the lives of his recipients, as they live and love, there is a legacy.”
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n her position with Transplant Services at the Regional Tissue Bank in Halifax, Denice Klavano has seen many donor families going through very difficult situations. She brings to her job energy, enthusiasm, grace and tact, and also something else: the experience of having been in the same situation – the experience of being a donor family. In addition to her work, Denice is a mom, with four sons. In 2006 she went through every parent’s worst nightmare. Her second oldest son, Brad, was killed in an accident at the Halifax Armouries,
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where he was a reservist with the Princess Louise Fusiliers. “It’s funny, but Brad and I had discussed organ and tissue donation shortly before his death,” Denice says. “His new health card had come in the mail, and we talked about donation. I told him to do as he wished, that just because I worked in the field of donation, that shouldn’t influence him. He shrugged and gave me that easy smile of his. “Mom,” he said, gesturing to his body, “this is only a rental.” For Denice, as for many parents and families of donors, knowing that
“the act of donation is truly a gift of comfort to grieving parents and devastated families” her son gave the gift of donation has given another dimension of meaning to her son’s all too brief life. “The act of donation is truly a gift of comfort to grieving parents and devastated families,” Denice says. “To know that our precious child lives on through the gift of life or mobility to others – it is truly a living legacy.” Today, Denice spends much of her time educating the public and medical professionals about the need to talk to families about organ donation, especially if their child or loved one has died without becoming a registered organ donor. “Too often, medical professionals in this situation feel that to ask the family at this devastating time would cause them more grief or be inappropriate or inconsiderate,” Denice explains. “What I try to get across in my presentations is that the family has just heard the worst news possible, and asking about organ or tissue donation is actually a way of offering meaningful comfort. A gentle ask about organ or tissue donation gives that family an opportunity to make a meaningful decision that can help so many and give them a legacy for their loved one.” Denice and her family are comforted by the knowledge that
benjamin and dad
David visiting a young transplant patient at edmonton’s Stollery Hospital
Brad’s eyes continue to see the world, although through a different lens. Tendons have helped an athlete regain mobility, and heart valves have saved the life of a child with a heart defect. And in giving a gift to those in need, they found it was also a gift to themselves – a gift of comfort, a gift of meaning and truly, a living legacy. “It’s so important to talk to your friends and family about the importance of becoming a registered organ donor,” Denice says. “It’s all about sharing the gift of life. Brad enriched our lives with his love, humour and belly laughs. I believe that in the lives of his recipients, as they live and love, there is a legacy. And when they laugh, I’m sure there is an echo to Brad’s spirit – and he is smiling.” To become a registered organ donor, contact the organ donor registration organization in your province.
benjamin, heart transplant at four months, now two years old
Myth I have a history of medical illness, therefore my organs or tissues can’t be donated to others. Fact At the time of death, the team that coordinates donation reviews the medical and social history of the patient to determine donor suitability on a case-by-case basis. Many diseases that were once cause to exclude someone from donating, such as diabetes and hepatitis, are no longer considered a barrier.
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Mitchel and Steven reilander Steven reilander
Where are they now? – Steven Reilander
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hen Steven Reilander was 11 years old, his parents got the kind of news no parent ever wants to hear – their son needed a new liver.
Myth If I receive an organ transplant in the future, I am not able to donate once I die. Fact Organ recipients can also become organ donors when they die.
Steven was born with cystic fibrosis, and a medical exam found he also had cirrhosis of the liver. When medication didn’t help, he was put on a waiting list for a liver transplant. Eleven long months later, the David Foster Foundation flew Steven and his family from their hometown of Sidney, British Columbia, to London, Ontario, where Steven got his new liver. “I remember we were packed and ready to go at any time for the full 11 months, and it was such a long wait before we finally got that call. It came at 1:30 in the morning,” he says. That was 11 years ago. Today, Steven is 22 and very excited about his future, which includes
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attending the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University in Montreal this fall. “Film is what I feel most passionate about,” Steven says. “Ever since I can remember, my attraction to motion pictures was nothing less than an obsession. I have always admired storytelling and the power that an art form – whether it is acting, music, painting, dance or photography – has to emotionally impact the person observing.” Funny, articulate and wise beyond his 22 years, Steven also recognizes the importance of the gift he has been given with his transplant and is determined to live his life to the fullest.
In fact, he and his family are in a unique position. In addition to Steven’s liver transplant, four years ago they learned that Steven’s younger brother Mitchel also needed a liver transplant. Mitchel, who was also born with cystic fibrosis, waited for his new liver for 13 months. Mitchel was 17 at the time of his transplant, and the David Foster Foundation again helped the family with their non-medical costs. Steven
says that although his brother’s transplant went well, watching his brother’s experience gave him a whole new perspective. “For me, going through my transplant when I was 11, I never imagined what my parents or family were going through,” Steven says. “Watching my brother go through the transplant process was agonizing, because I felt so helpless. It was way worse than going through it myself,” he says.
Today, life is good for Steven and the rest of the Reilander family. Steven is “totally stoked” about going to study film in one of the best programs in Canada this fall, and Mitchel is attending college and leaning toward a career in medical imaging. “Ultimately, it’s all about attitude,” he says. “It’s a really long road for families to get through this type of thing, and staying positive is so important.”
“Ultimately, it’s all about attitude,” he says. “it’s a really long road for families to get through this type of thing, and staying positive is so important.”
Did you know? • There is a chronic shortage of most organs needed for transplant in Canada. More than 3,500 Canadians are currently awaiting organ transplants. • The average heart beats 36 million times per year. A single pump from the human heart can shoot 30 feet in the air.
• Transplants are cost-effective. For those with kidney disease, the average cost of dialysis treatment is $50,000 a year. By comparison, the one-time cost of a kidney transplant in BC is approximately $20,000, with an additional yearly cost of about $6,000 for antirejection medications.
• In Canada, up to 30 per cent of people in need of a solid organ transplant die on the waiting list.
• Half of the kidneys transplanted come from living donors.
• Demand for transplants is increasing while the number of organ donors remains unchanged.
• The David Foster Foundation has helped 480 families by providing more than $4.5 million indirect support in the past 23 years.
• Of the 482 children supported by the foundation in the past two decades, 383 have had transplants and 19 are currently waiting for transplants. Eight children have had multiple transplants. Unfortunately, 43 died waiting for their transplant, and 29 had their transplant but have died – 9 deaths unknown as to pre- or post-transplant. Of the 383 who received transplants, 302 are alive and doing well today. The status of the remainder is unknown.
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DFF launches new website The David Foster Foundation website has had a long overdue makeover. The updated site now has easy-to-access information about the work of the foundation, as well as additional resources for parents, medical professionals and the public. In the coming weeks new content will continue to be added to the site, ensuring that families receiving support from the foundation, the medical professionals who help them and the public will be able to get the latest foundation news. The new site reflects the foundation’s renewed commitment to helping families of children needing life-saving organ transplants. Visit our site at www.davidfosterfoundation.com and find out how you can help the foundation – and while you are there, sign up to become a registered organ donor, and tell your family about your decision to save a life!
What we do
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he David Foster Foundation (DFF) provides financial and emotional support to the families of children across Canada needing organ transplants. The foundation fills a unique need by helping families of children needing transplants with their non-medical expenses during this very difficult and stressful time.
DFF helps families in need with their non-medical expenses, such as transportation or accommodations when the family is out of town for medical treatment. Depending on the family’s financial situation, we may assist with mortgage or rent payments on a short-term basis or some of the other costs associated with living in another
city or province for the transplant or follow-up appointments. In addition to providing emotional and financial support to families, the foundation also strives to increase public awareness about the importance of becoming a registered organ donor.
For over 20 years the David Foster Foundation has helped hundreds of families and provided millions of dollars in direct support to families.
212 Henry Street Victoria, BC Canada V9A 3H9 Phone 250 475 1223 Toll free 1-877-777-7675 www.davidfosterfoundation
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brynn and family