Transplant Stories, a new documentary series, will premiere on Knowledge Network in November 2024. This documentary shares the powerful stories of many British Columbians waiting for a transplant and a second chance at life.
Vancouver film production company Omnifilm first approached BC Transplant five years ago with their proposal to produce a documentary series showcasing the power of organ donation and transplantation. Working together with our partners at Vancouver Coastal Health, Providence Health Care, and the Provincial Health Services Authority, plus countless others around B.C., Transplant Stories was ready to go into production. Then the pandemic hit. Everything was put on hold until last year.
For more than six months last year, the Omnifilm crews filmed at several locations around B.C., working closely with our teams at BC Transplant and with many health-care teams at all the sites.
Transplant Stories premieres November 19 at 9 p.m. on the Knowledge Network in B.C. and will also be available to stream on knowledgenetwork.ca
The series shares the transplant journey of many British Columbians, while also highlighting the perspectives of health-care staff, caregivers, and others. The four episodes are emotional and powerful.
This four-part television series tells the human stories behind life-and-death stakes of organ transplants and features emotionally intense subject matter and graphic footage. Viewer discretion is advised.
Read the episode synopses below:
A grandmother gets weaker while on the waitlist for a donated set of lungs but time is quickly running out. A young father races into hospital for a liver transplant but finds out it’s not a sure thing. A woman’s eyesight deteriorates to blindness and a delicate cornea transplant gives her a glimpse of hope.
An organ retrieval team flies to Kelowna to obtain a liver from a dying man but faces losing the organ completely as time runs out. A woman with a condition that hardens her heart tissues finds that getting a transplant brings an unexpected emotional impact. A sister flies from her home in Colombia to donate a kidney to her ailing brother, but her smoking habit could scuttle everything.
A racing enthusiast with a rare disorder that attacks his body’s soft tissues finds his heart near failure due to compromised lungs. A girl who had a heart transplant just after birth undergoes tests to see how her implanted heart is functioning. A woman donates one of her kidneys to her partner.
With no donor heart available, doctors implant an artificial pump in a man with sudden heart failure but the surgery is compromised when unexpected bleeding occurs. A man with liver cancer hopes to find a suitable, donated liver before his cancer spreads. A jewelry-maker grows weak and confused as her body begins to reject her second transplanted liver.
After years in production, we are excited for everyone to see Transplant Stories. We are grateful to all the individuals from BC Transplant, Knowledge Network, our health-care partners, and of course, Omnifilm who made this documentary possible.
Be inspired to live life and pass it on. Register as an organ donor today. There are more than 600 people in B.C. waiting for a second chance at life. Your compassionate decision will bring hope to many individuals.
