Photo: @GreenShirtDay Twitter page

By Shane Clausing

Green shirt day

Sexsmith woman hoping to inspire residents to become organ donors for Green Shirt Day

Apr 7, 2021 | 2:18 PM

Today is Green Shirt Day across Canada.

Green Shirt Day began three years ago in honour of Humboldt Broncos player Logan Boulet, who passed away in the Broncos bus crash in 2018.

Boulet signed his organ donor card and hoped his donation could hopefully one day save a life.

Following the death of Boulet and his donor story coming out, Canadians were inspired and, in the weeks and months that followed, an estimated 150,000 Canadians registered to become organ donors.

Green Shirt Day has been held for three years. It is meant to raise awareness and increase organ donor registrations across Canada.

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Alisha Hiebert is from Sexsmith and when she was born in 1997, she was diagnosed with a genetic disorder where she was missing part of her liver.

Over her life, doctors said when she was a kid she was pretty much healthy and well managed, however, once Hiebert became an adult, her health and life changed.

“When I was 21 (2018), I was listed for a liver transplant,” said Hiebert.

Once Hiebert was added to the liver transplant list, her family had to travel back and forth to Edmonton for two years in order for doctors to test her blood and other organs to make sure they were OK to receive a liver transplant.

“I basically lived in the hospital for two years while I was waiting,” explained Hiebert. “It had to be in Edmonton because they couldn’t do anything in Grande Prairie.”

By the age of 23, Hiebert’s condition deteriorated to the point, where she needed to get a new liver as soon as possible. Doctors told her if she didn’t get a new liver by the age of 25, she likely would not live past that age.

In August 2020, Hiebert was taken in for surgery to get part of her brother’s liver, where things didn’t go as planned.

“Originally my brother was going to be a living donor and give me part of his liver, but during surgery there ended up being some complications and I needed a deceased donor as quickly as they (doctors) could get one to me because I only had a number of hours left.”

Luckily for Hiebert, because of a donor in Toronto, she was able to receive a liver several hours later.

After the surgery, Hiebert had to recover, which she says was a tough experience.

“All of your muscles are gone, I couldn’t sit up on my own, I couldn’t eat or walk, I was on a ventilator for a while after surgery and you have to basically relearn everything.”

For rehab, Hiebert was in the hospital for a month and then her family relocated to Edmonton for a couple of months. This was because patients who receive transplants are told to stay close to a transplant centre in case any issues arise and to get the care they need.

According to Hiebert, the Edmonton transplant centre is the only transplant centre in the province. Follow-up appointments can be done in Calgary, but the Edmonton transplant centre has everything patients need.

Now, nearly seven months year after surgery, Hiebert says she’s still recovering, but her life has mostly gone back to being normal.

“I can eat anywhere I want, travel anywhere I want, I have the opportunity to start a family, it’s like a whole new world that’s never existed to me before.”

She tells EverythingGP the donation from the anonymous donor gave her a second chance at life and she hopes to continue to advocate to raise awareness about getting people registered to become organ donors for years to come.

“Green Shirt Day means so much to me because it raises awareness for organ donation. It’s special because I wouldn’t be here without my organ donor and people taking the initiative and signing up to become organ donors. I’m so grateful that my organ donor did that and made that possible so I can have another chance at life.”

Given the amount of travel she had to do when she was on the organ donor list, Hiebert hopes the conversation can lead to more discussion and more action when it comes to people getting a transplant.

“There definitely needs to be more resources and advocacy around organ transplantation because it’s not really accessible for a lot of people right now, and there are so many obstacles asides from just getting your organ.”

One organ donor can help save up to eight lives.

Those interested in registering on the organ donor list can sign-up by heading to the Alberta Health Services website or by doing so when you go to renew your driver’s license.