When the topic of her deceased husband's possible organ donation was broached earlier this month, Alice Graham didn't think it would be possible.
She was just beginning to grieve the death of her husband Bob, who died on Jan. 6 following a fall two days earlier while skiing at Tabor Mountain. At 79, Alice instinctively assumed that Bob's organs would be too old for a useful transplant.
Yet thanks to Bob's excellent physical condition, his active lifestyle and love of the outdoors, doctors concluded that his organs were still in great shape to help save someone else's life.
"When we got to Vancouver, the doctors were totally shocked," Alice said. "Not once, but a few times, they said he has the body of a 65-year-old."
When the surgery was done to remove Bob's liver and transplant it into someone else's body on the evening of Jan. 6, Bob Graham became the oldest organ donor in B.C. history. In the last four decades, he is only the fifth person in B.C. over the age of 75 to be able to donate organs upon death.
"I know he would be proud," Alice said. "He saved someone else's life. They're in bad shape if they need a new liver."
Other family members are just as proud. When told of the news of the transplant and what it meant for the recipient, a nine-year-old relative of Bob's now considers him a super hero.
"He thought that was the best thing the world, that he could save someone else's life," Bob's daughter Kary Michaels said. "And all the other kids that are around that age that can understand are pretty proud of him."
Up until the time of his death, Bob was still actively pursuing his favourite sports like skiing, cycling and fishing. Skiing had been a lifelong passion for Bob, something he had done since he was a 12-year-old boy growing up in Edmonton. He had worked on the ski patrol in the past and in the end he died doing something he loved.
No one is sure what caused Bob to fall in the afternoon of Jan. 4 at Tabor, but the end result of his face-first impact was devastating. Although he was conscious immediately after the fall, he soon lost consciousness and the brain injury he suffered was too much to overcome.
Bob and Alice were airlifted to Vancouver, arriving there in the early morning hours of Jan. 5. When it became clear that Bob's injuries would be fatal, discussions soon shifted to transplant options.
Alice and Bob had spoken about transplant many years ago and had encouraged their daughters Kary and Barb to have their names added to the registry as well. A family friend is a transplant recipient, so they know what it means to be given a gift of a new life.
Once the family agreed, numerous tests needed to be performed to ensure Bob was healthy enough to donate organs. He passed with flying colours. Then recipient matches needed to be identified.
In the end only Bob's liver was transplanted. His lungs were healthy enough, but found to be too big for most recipients and no match was found. The family was also told his heart was in good enough shape to be donated, but again there was no matching recipient on the list. For kidneys, Bob had passed the 75-year-old age limit.
Kary said the compassion of the transplant team and the amount of information they were able to give the family made the difficult and sad process of losing their loved one that much easier.
"Each part was done very gracefully and tactfully," she said. "We were overwhelmed with their gratitude. Every single time we turned around they were thanking us and talking about what a gift it was and how honoured they were."
Although Bob is gone, Alice and her children are comforted to know that he helped someone else who is sick. In order to keep things confidential, BC Transplant doesn't connect donor and recipient families, but the agency did tell the family the surgery was successful.
To further his legacy, the family wants to remind other willing donors to sign up to the registry either online at www.transplant.bc.ca or by calling 1-800-663-6189.
