'Really relieved': Potential kidney transplant no longer delayed by B.C. health-care crisis
A Metchosin man who wants to help a Calgary toddler in desperate need of a kidney has been frustrated by the B.C. health-care crisis, which held up his potential kidney donation.
Greg Powell was interested in helping 22-month-old Henry Jensen by donating his kidney.
There was a snag, however, because Powell did not have a family doctor on Vancouver Island.
"I was informed by the transplant team that the next step now was referred to my family doctor, and I said I don't have one, and they said you need one," said Powell.
"So I thought, 'Not a problem,' and I made some phone calls. It turned out that it was a lot harder than I thought," he said.
Powell called 10 doctors offices around Victoria with no luck.
"It's the lack of family doctors in Victoria that's holding up this process," said mother Lisa Jensen.
But that luck has seemingly turned around.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the family told CTV News that, after some media attention, they've heard from a Victoria doctor who pledged to take Powell as a patient.
"We're really relieved we can move past this roadblock and move towards getting Henry the help he needs," said Jensen.
Henry needs the organ to vastly improve his quality of life.
Henry and his family moved from Victoria to Calgary last summer, where the toddler gets lengthy dialysis treatments to keep him alive.
The medical care is needed because his kidneys have failed. He's already had one removed, and needs a new one to replace it.
"A kidney transplant would completely change his life," said mother Lisa Jensen.
"Currently, he's sick, vomiting on a daily basis, due to a build up of toxins in his system."
The family found a potential kidney donor in their friend, Powell.
"If Henry can get a kidney transplant that changes his quality of life immensely," said Powell.
"So I thought, I've got two, maybe I can spare one for Henry."
While Powell searched for a family doctor, Henry had to endure up to 20 hours a week at the hospital.
"So that means he's in the hospital four days a week, [for] four to five hours every day, for the year. He doesn't get any breaks at all," said Jensen.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said he learned about Henry's plight on Tuesday and said that the ministry would step in to find a solution.
"This is an issue for this individual that can be solved, so we're going to do that," he said.
B.C.'s health minister acknowledges there's plenty of work to be done addressing a crisis that's left millions of British Columbians, like Powell, without a family doctor.
He points to a new funding model that has attracted 460 new full time family doctors to B.C. since February.
"On the broader issues, we're making some progress," said Dix. "We're going to have to always make more, but we're making some progress."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
'We have laws': Premier Smith says police action justified in Calgary
The actions, including the decision to use non-lethal force, to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Calgary campus were justified, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Friday.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.