A lifelong Timmins resident is looking for a match.
Lise St. Jean is in the final stages of renal failure and needs a kidney transplant. She is looking for a living donor.
A potential donor needs to be in healthy condition and have type O blood.
The search for a live donor started in November.
St. Jean's friend Anne Marie Vaillancourt said there were a couple of people who thought they might be able to do, but didn't meet the qualifications.
For the the past couple of months, the search has intensified.
“Her kidney function has been reducing, that’s why now she’s considered on the final stages of renal failure and we’re praying that it doesn’t go any lower, but at this point if it goes much lower she will be on dialysis. And dialysis could be three days a week for three to four hours a day,” said Vaillancourt.
“We’re hoping to avoid that with a living donor.”
St. Jean is a custodian with District School Board Ontario North East (DSBONE), first at the PACE Centre and now at R. Ross Beattie.
“I’m still working my four-and-a-half hours a day, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do it, but I just keep active until they tell me it’s time to be on dialysis,” she said.
This week, the school board sent a call out for support in her search for a live donor.
"We stand bend Ms. St. Jean during this challenging time. We ask our community to help her find a living donor that would help increase her quality of life greatly," said Lesleigh Dye, DSBONE director of education.
If you think you could be a match, Vaillancourt said to talk to your doctor and let them know there is a specific person that you want to be a living donor for and want to get the required bloodwork.
The live donor doesn't have to be from Timmins, she said it could be be anywhere in the country.
"But generally they expect that it would be somebody within the province because we’re all under OHIP,” Vaillancourt said, adding it would make it easier for travel.
If a match is found, the surgery would be done in Toronto.
For more information, you can email [email protected]. For more information, you can also call 705-288-7454.
