“what i understand is then the next day, the heart flew from calgary to toronto.”
the work of researchers, doctors and volunteers, as well as the selfless acts of living and deceased donors, is making a difference. in 2019, more than 3,000 transplants were performed from 1,434 donors, an increase from approximately 2,500 transplants from 1,212 donors in 2015, according to the canadian institute for health information.
the waiting list also appears to be shrinking, down to 4,527 in 2019 from 4,712 in 2015.
tanner’s surgery was a resounding success, and he was well enough to be discharged from sickkids hospital to the nearby ronald mcdonald house after only a few days. he returned home to newfoundland four months later.
the identity of organ donors and recipients is kept private in canada, so the fitzpatricks wrote an anonymous letter to marit’s parents, and about a year later, they received a letter back from the mckenzies, which alluded to a charity hockey match.
tanner, by then much healthier and enduringly grateful, was compelled to do some internet sleuthing.
he found the marit cup, an annual hockey tournament held by marit’s high school that raises money for the david foster foundation, as well as for a fine arts scholarship in marit’s name. tanner, who had been in hockey since peewee, told his parents he wanted to play.