Canadian flies to Hong Kong for life-saving transplant

A 39-year-old father of three from Okanagan, B.C. was forced to fly to Hong Kong for a life-saving operation after doctors in Canada told him he’d have to wait six months for a liver transplant.

Mike Watson, who lives in the community of Kaleden, suffered a sudden internal hemorrhage in December. Canadian doctors told him he’d spend half a year on a list for a liver transplant, but at this point his hemorrhage had led to progressive kidney failure.

The condition Watson was in, called hepatorenal syndrome, can lead to death within three months, but doctors still told him a live donation would be too risky.

Watson began searching for options outside of Canada. South China Morning Post reports that a friend of the family put them in touch with Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong.

“There are a lot of people willing to become a donor, but the doctors in Canada told us Mike was too sick to undergo such surgery,” Watson’s wife Lisa Needoba told the news outlet.

University of Hong Kong professor Lo Chung-mau told the family the father had an 80 per cent chance of surviving if they performed a liver transplant.

Watson, his wife and a group of family members and friends flew from B.C. to Hong Kong.

Once there, the organ transplant team, led by professor Chung-mau, identified his partner Lisa as the best candidate. The successful 12-hour transplant operation went ahead on March 1.

Doctors found that Watson’s liver had deteriorated so much that it could no longer function.

“If I were still in B.C., I would be dead by now,” Watson told South China Morning Post.

The couple is recovering in Hong Kong and hope to be back home with their three kids next month.

“It was tough. But I have a family and three kids. I needed to try anything,” Watson told South China Morning Post.

What’s more is the outpouring of support the Watson family has received from their small community. A YouCaring page has raised $151,000 as of Friday this week, with an overall goal of $264,000 to pay for the surgery. A family estate winery in West Kelowna paid for the flight overseas.

A fundraiser is also planned for the couple on April 16.

The hospital that refused Watson surgery responded to the story to the Vancouver Sun in an email, saying, “There were medical reasons why the patient did not meet the criteria for transplant and was advised he needed to wait for six months before receiving a transplant in B.C. The same standards apply across Canada, which is why he chose to go out of the country.”

All images via YouCaring