Theresa LeBane Makes a Generous Donation

The excerpt below is from the Current Grad Students article “Grad Student Makes a Generous Donation” by Lin Moody. Teresa Le Bane was also featured in a recent article by Elizabeth Payne in the Ottawa Citizen entitled “‘I don’t consider myself brave’: Woman has deeper appreciation for life after liver donation“. For more information on organ donation, please visit the Canadian Liver Foundation and the Trillium Gift of Life Network.

The Canadian Liver Foundation hosted a gala event on Nov. 5 to honour people who have been touched by liver disease.

One of the people the Foundation celebrated is Grad Student Theresa LeBane.

LeBane anonymously donated part of her liver this year. She explains why.

“In March of 2016, I heard a former colleague from Kingston, Chris, was very sick and on the liver transplant list. His family members had come forward as living donors to donate, but were not matches. My Dad had complex heart surgery at the Heart Institute in February, and I really felt for Chris’s children. I applied to be a donor for him and completed all the testing at Toronto General Hospital. Although I was a suitable candidate, I turned out not to be a match for him. That’s when I applied to be an anonymous donor for a pediatric patient at Sick Kids Hospital who was also on the transplant list.”

“I had already gone through all the testing for Chris, and since I wasn’t a match for him, I wanted to help someone else in need. It was very powerful learning more about the need for organ donors in Ontario through the Trillium Gift of Life Network. Amazingly, Chris received a liver through the generosity of a deceased donor before I had my surgery. Knowing his experience and gratitude, and being healthy and having gone through all the testing, I was confident in my decision. That being said, I was quite nervous the morning of the surgery thinking of all the risks and the recovery, but my surgeon and the whole team at TGH was great. I went into surgery feeling very positive, and I’m so glad I went forward to be a living donor.”

LeBane had to put her studies on hold during the organ donation process.

“I had such wonderful support from the History Department when I was applying to be a living donor which made that part of my decision, to defer my studies, much easier. Professor Lipsett-Rivera, the graduate advisor, and Professor Whitney, my supervisor, were fantastic.”

In January, she will return to Carleton as a full-time grad student pursuing her MA in History.

For more information about the Liver Foundation, please go to liver.ca.