Rob Hammerschmidt already felt lucky when his father donated a kidney to him pre-emptively in 2009. When that transplanted kidney started to fail after nearly a decade, the Richmond, B.C. man wasn’t sure he would win the kidney lottery a second time.
“I was told that I only had a 1.7 per cent chance of matching the population because of all the antibodies that built up from my rejection of the first transplant. I am generally a positive person, but this news was difficult to swallow, knowing those slim odds,” shares Rob.
Fortunately for Rob, and other patients like him across Canada who are extremely hard to match to a donor, the national
Highly Sensitized Patient (HSP) program was launched in 2013 to help find those rare matches. It just reached the milestone of 1000 kidney transplants. Rob was one of those patients.
“Without the HSP program, I’m sure that I would still be waiting for a transplant today,” Rob remarks.
The HSP program is operated by Canadian Blood Services in collaboration with BC Transplant and other provincial donation and transplant programs and organizations. It gives highly sensitized patients access to a larger national pool of kidney donors, sharing them across provincial boundaries.
‘Highly sensitized’ means that the patients have exceptionally high antibody levels – due to various reasons including blood transfusions, previous transplants as in Rob’s case, or pregnancies – that will cause them to reject a kidney from most donors. This makes it exceedingly difficult to find a suitable donor match.
Dr. Jag Gill, transplant nephrologist at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, adds, “About one in five people awaiting a kidney transplant are highly sensitized, yet historically these patients receive less than one per cent of available organs because they are hard to match.”
Of the 144 British Columbians who received a kidney through the HSP program, 103 of those were from donors elsewhere in Canada. In turn, B.C. shared 111 kidneys with highly sensitized patients outside of our province.
“The HSP program has dramatically changed the outcomes for these 144 patients in our province, and hundreds more nationally,” explains Dr. Gill. “We know highly sensitized candidates on the waitlist have a greater chance of becoming ill or dying while they wait. By working together with all our donation and transplant partners, we are saving more lives.”
While waiting for his second kidney transplant, Rob was so sick he had to stop working. His kidney function was under 15 per cent, causing extreme fatigue. By 2020, he was on dialysis, but it was punishing, leaving him with a migraine after each treatment.
“The HSP program gave me hope that I would find a donor and it gave me something positive to think about in the dialysis chair three times a week,” recalls Rob. “When I received the call that there was a match for me, although I always had hope, it was a huge surprise and relief to me and my family. I felt really lucky.”
In 2021, Rob received his second transplant and started planning his life again, including his next travel destination as a world explorer and starting a family with his wife.
“I was able to go to Australia last March with my wife Katie – my first trip after transplant. I used to live there and it was so special to reconnect with my friends. I know that would have been impossible if I were still on dialysis, and I am so grateful every day.”
Rob, now 39 years old, is thriving again in his career as a retail manager. He plans to spend this summer camping with Katie, going for walks with his dog and playing tennis. He also wants to continue exploring new countries and adding more continents to his list.
“Whenever I am in a beautiful place in the world, whether it’s Australia or camping in B.C., I just think of how things could have been for me. I remember how sick I was and I reflect on how healthy I feel now. I am so grateful for Katie and my family, and I want to thank my donor and their family for making the decision to donate. Without that gift, I would not be able to do what I do today. Your gift means more to me and my family than you could ever know.”
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We encourage all Canadians to register their decision to become an organ and tissue donor and to share their decision with their family and loved ones. Spread awareness of organ and tissue donation in your community and join us as we work towards a day when no one in Canada dies while waiting for a transplant.
