Maple Ridge’s Geoff Dunsire has successfully received his second organ transplant, and is recovering in Vancouver General Hospital.
The Maple Ridge woman who donated her kidney to Geoff, Debi Pearce, went home on Friday afternoon, after making the donation on Wednesday morning. Dunsire is already up and walking.
“Everything went great, and they’re doing really well,” said Tracey Dunsire, the recipient’s mother.
She can’t believe her son’s long medical ordeal is coming to an end.
Dunsire is believed to have had an adverse reaction to a hepatitis B vaccination. It left him with a liver disease he has had since the age of 13, and it caused him serious health problems starting at the age of 25. He has had kidney failure, been on life support, lost his vision and has been paralyzed.
After Wednesday’s surgery, Geoff did 12 hours in recovery, and has regular blood work, as doctors watch closely for symptoms of rejection.
He has already had a liver transplant.
But Tracey said she can’t believe that the dialysis that left him completely exhausted three times every week appears to finally be behind him.
Pearce has become an advocate for organ donation. She and Geoff did the Fraser Valley Kidney Walk on June 2 in Surrey’s Holland Park, and she was the top fundraiser with approximately $7,500 raised for the Kidney Foundation.
B.C. Transplant wants to tell the story of Geoff’s ordeal, and recruit Pearce as an ambassador. She decided to get involved as a donor after meeting the Dunsires as their realtor.
“She’s quite a woman,” said Tracey.
Both women, now close friends, plan to volunteer for the Kidney Foundation and B.C. Transplant.
“That’s our next chapter,” said Tracey.
ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
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