On a bleak January morning in 2025, James "Scott" Wilson received a voicemail that would dramatically alter his fate. The 53-year-old retired nurse and single father of twins sat exhausted in his car, his body failing from end-stage liver disease. Having been hospitalized over the holidays with fluid-filled lungs—a dangerous complication—Wilson feared he would orphan his children, having already lost his husband years earlier.
"I was falling apart," Wilson recalls. "It was really only a matter of time." Diagnosed with liver disease in 2022, Wilson had exhausted every option to maintain his health, but his condition progressed to requiring a transplant for survival. Despite extensive efforts through family networks, social media campaigns, and media appearances to find a living donor, no match emerged.
As Wilson's health declined, he edged "precariously close" to surrendering hope. Statistics from the Canadian Institute for Health Information reveal that 15 percent of liver patients die before finding a match—the highest mortality rate on transplant waitlists. "I just prayed for time," Wilson says. "I thought, 'I'm not ready to go like this. I can't not be here [for my children].'"
The Life-Saving Call
The transformative voicemail came from the Ajmera Transplant Centre at Toronto's University Health Network (UHN), home to Canada's largest and most advanced transplant program. Returning the call from his car, Wilson received miraculous news: a liver from a deceased donor was available. "I just screamed," Wilson says. "It was primal."
Wilson and his sister quickly arranged care for his children in Brockville, Ontario. After embracing his children tightly with the words, "See you later. We don't say goodbye," they embarked on a treacherous four-hour drive through severe weather to Toronto, where Wilson was admitted for surgery preparation.
Transplant Innovation Saving Lives
Each year, UHN's Ajmera Transplant Centre performs more than 700 transplants, including lung, liver, heart, kidney, and pancreas procedures, accounting for over half of Ontario's transplant operations. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, UHN's liver transplant program has surpassed 4,000 liver transplants—more than any other North American center.
"Getting a transplant is like having a new birthday and starting life over," says Dr. Deepali Kumar, Director of UHN's Ajmera Transplant Centre. She emphasizes that green, organ donation's official color, symbolizes rejuvenation, rebirth, and renewal. "That's what we're all about."
Revolutionary Organ Preservation Technology
One significant challenge in deceased-donor liver transplants involves organ viability. UHN has pioneered a breakthrough solution: ex vivo organ perfusion. This innovation maintains organs functioning outside the body by connecting them to machines circulating nutrient-rich fluid, rather than simply cooling them on ice.
This technology enables medical experts to assess, preserve, and even repair organs using antiviral or antibacterial medications, resulting in fewer rejections and more available organs for transplantation. Originally developed by UHN in the early 2000s for lung transplants, ex vivo technology now extends to kidney and liver procedures—and was utilized in Wilson's transplant.
"Ex vivo has really revolutionized how we do transplants," says Dr. Kumar. "You're keeping organs alive outside the body. You can watch lungs breathe in and out [on their own]—it's very exciting to witness."
Supporting Living Donation
UHN has further enhanced the organ donation process through its Centre for Living Organ Donation, established in 2018. The center raises awareness and provides support for transplant patients and potential donors.
Candice Coghlan, education and outreach coordinator at UHN's Centre for Living Organ Donation, addresses common concerns about procedure dangers, noting that outcomes are overwhelmingly positive with minor complications. She conducts "Finding a Living Donor" sessions with patients and caregivers while guiding potential donors through the process.
"If somebody steps forward and says, 'I don't know much about this, but I heard about somebody on the radio who needs a living donor—how do I do this?' I walk them through that process from initial application all the way to surgery and recovery," she explains. "We can connect them with peer mentors if they want to talk to someone who's been through it."
Coghlan speaks from personal experience: at 24, she nearly died from kidney disease before her mother became her living donor. "My mom gave me life twice, and the opportunity to create it as well," says Coghlan. "It's pretty incredible." Today, Coghlan's healthy mother babysits her granddaughter.
The Ongoing Need for Organ Donors
While Wilson and Coghlan's stories demonstrate organ donation's life-saving power, the demand for transplants remains critically high. As of December 2024, more than 4,000 Canadians awaited transplants.
Dr. Kumar emphasizes that Canadians can assist through organ donor registration and financial support for innovations like those at UHN. The Ajmera Transplant Centre serves as a global leader in transplant science, functioning as a national referral center for complex procedures and achieving superior patient outcomes worldwide.
Philanthropic support proved crucial for developing ex vivo organ perfusion and establishing the Centre for Living Organ Donation. Donations also help UHN recruit and retain top medical talent.
"We've had some fantastic philanthropic donors, both past and present. It's really because of their generosity that we've been able to get to where we are today," Dr. Kumar says. "Donor support provides the seed funding that allows us to take on high-risk, high-reward studies and experiments."
A Future Reclaimed
Wilson vows not to waste his second chance at life. He expresses profound gratitude for the compassionate care received at UHN and shares his story to honor his organ donor and their family while inspiring others to give the gift of life.
Today, Wilson thrives—healthy, happy, and fitter than ever, lifting weights, walking his dog, and biking with his children. "I can watch my children grow, see their beautiful faces and make them laugh out loud," Wilson says. "I'm in the present and I'm planning for the future."
