Becoming an organ donor is a decision that hits close to home for Kristyn Miller.
“If someone didn’t say yes, he wouldn’t be here,” Miller said.
He is her 6-year-old son, Jaxon, born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. At five weeks old, he was listed for a heart transplant.
“He was on borrowed time and fortunately our heart came at the perfect time on January 29, 2018,” Miller said.
Nearly six years later, Jaxon is thriving. He loves the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. His favourite player is Brady Olivera. He’s fascinated by garbage trucks and can be a little prankster.
“This past year he has grown and thrived into a wonderful little boy. He’s always been amazing but this year we’ve really seen him reach the potential I always thought he had,” Miller said.
Doctors said Jaxon’s donor heart is expected to last 15-30 years. He’ll likely need another one at some point in his life.
This comes at a time when the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) says transplant rates are rebounding after seeing a drop during the pandemic.
“In terms of the number of donors, we had just over 1,400 pre pandemic and we are about the same across Canada in 2022,” said Nicole de Guia, manager of organ donation transplantation project with CIHI.
But the institute’s data shows almost 3,800 hundred people were still waiting for a transplant at the end of last year.
“Very few people actually become an actual donor. It really is a remarkable set of decisions and the coordination of the health-care system for a successful transplant,” de Guia said.
One donor can save up to eight lives.
Manitobans can let the health-care system know of their wishes at signupforlife.ca.
Before Jaxon was born, Miller says she never through about organ donation but now encourages everyone to talk to their families about it.
“When you come into that crisis, and you never think it’s going to be you, those are the hard questions. But if you’ve already talked about it, it’s going to be a lot easier,” Miller said.
She is forever grateful for the selfless decision of another family, that allows her young son to live.
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