06/18/2023
*Please share to help my sister*
Kaneez is a mother and teacher and is devoted — both to her two children at home, aged 13 and 17, and the students at school. She needs a living donor with blood type O+ or O- to donate at Toronto General Hospital.
After more than 40 years of active and healthy living, my sister, Kaneez Fatima, was looking forward to seeing her two children graduate and settle down in life. Until recently, when she fell extremely ill. She was rushed to the emergency department for treatment, where she found out that her liver is not functioning well. Following a series of diagnostic tests, she found out that she is suffering from Wilson’s disease, and it has damaged her liver. This was very shocking for her and her family. In a matter of a few months, our whole world turned upside down. Her health is deteriorating with each passing day and she is on the transplant list for a liver. That’s her with her family in this picture.
For a person diagnosed with liver disease, there is a long and difficult wait for a deceased donor. Sadly, some patients will die waiting. As she gets sicker, my sister is looking for a living liver donor with blood type O+ or O- to donate. Every three days a person dies in Ontario because they don't get the lifesaving transplant they need.
Living liver donation is when a live person donates a portion of their liver. A living donor’s liver regenerates in approximately six weeks! In finding a living donor, Kaneez will be removed from the deceased donor list and everyone else eagerly waiting for a liver will move up one spot. The living donor will be saving TWO lives: my sister’s and the person behind her on the waiting list!
Since 1990, more than 1,000 living liver donor transplants have been done at Toronto General Hospital. All donors have returned to their regular lifestyle with no restrictions.
A number of our family and friends including myself have applied to be donors, but none of us are a match. It’s so incredibly hard to see my sister so sick. And still, she pushes through every day to keep teaching her students. She is hoping to inspire them and provide a new perspective on life. She is showing them that, no matter what obstacles life may throw at them, a positive mindset and dreams for the future should motivate them enough to keep pushing. Just as she has.
Kaneez has been a very loving, kind, and compassionate teacher for about 18 years and has touched the hearts of many students and parents alike by making a difference in their children’s lives. Even after finding out about her health condition, she is continuing to work to keep herself busy and active. She is saddened by the fact that she is not able to take care of her family as she used to. Her husband, children and siblings are trying their best to support her in every way possible to bring a smile to her face.
She is praying and hoping to get a donor soon so that she can live a healthy life and see her children graduate, get married and settle down in life. She dreams of playing with her grandchildren and nurturing them to be good individuals like her own children.
Anyone with blood type O+ or O- between the ages of 16 and 60 years and in good health (no diabetes, cancer, kidney or heart disease) can apply to be a living donor for Kaneez.
The donor does not need to be a relative or of the same ethnicity (that matters for stem cells, not organs). The criteria for living organ donors are different than for blood donors. If you are not eligible to donate blood, you may still be able to be a living organ donor.
👉👉 To learn more about living donation and to apply to become my sister’s living liver donor, please visit: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx. There is a 13-page health history. Completing and submitting this health history is your application. The application form asks for Kaneez’s full name (Kaneez Fatima) and her date of birth (20th March 1978). 👈👈
Candidates go through a comprehensive assessment to ensure they are healthy enough to donate.
For expenses like travel, food, accommodation, and income replacement, there is a reimbursement program through Trillium Gift of Life for up to $5,500. They will reimburse expenses even if you get part-way through the screening process and change your mind or aren’t accepted. You can also submit receipts for reimbursement throughout the process and don’t need to wait until after the surgery. You can live anywhere in Canada and will still be reimbursed to travel to Toronto.
Anyone can help by sharing this post.
If you’d like answers to any questions about living liver donation, contact:
Centre for Living Organ Donation at UHN
Phone: 416-340-5400
Email: livingorgandonation@UHN.ca
Website: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Centre_for_Living_Organ_Donation
You can ask questions anonymously to learn more about living liver donation. Communications between a potential living donor and donor team are confidential and not shared with the recipient.
The UHN Centre for Living Donation hosts a monthly on-line information session for Potential Living Liver Donors:
There is also a Canadian Facebook group that may be helpful: Organ transplant recipients and living donors in Canada: https://www.facebook.com/groups/630523730672476.
Please share this with anyone you know who might be willing to help. We will need someone brave and generous to give the gift of life to Kaneez and save her family.
Thank you so much to anyone who applies and spreads the word. We are all deeply grateful to you for your generosity and kindness.
Kaneez Fatima needs a living donor with blood type O+ or O- to donate at Toronto General Hospital.
