'Heart-in-a-box' technology lets Canadian organ donor save a life
CBC
Lorraine Sherren says what's holding her together as she and her husband grieve the death of their 40-year-old son is knowing he was able to donate his heart, with some out-of-the-box thinking.
Robbie Sherren, 40, was a Special Olympics bowler, Trekkie and computer whiz, his parents said. What started as a trip to the emergency department for seemingly just a sprained ankle wound up with him no longer breathing, experiencing an aneurysm and almost 100 tiny strokes.
His mother was devastated when doctors initially told her Robbie wouldn't be able to donate his heart because she knew how much it would've meant to him. He had been donating blood for decades.
"He was just a special man with an infectious smile," she said.
"Everybody liked him, he never got into any trouble," his father, Derk Sherren, said of their red-headed son who chose to live at home.
Normally, hearts can only be donated in Canada after brain or neurological death, where the heart continues to beat after the patient is declared deceased.
But within hours of that initial 'no,' while Robbie was still on life support, the Kingston chapter of Trillium, Ontario's organ and tissue donation agency, stepped in with an idea: After the heart stopped beating, remove it, give it blood and use a special resuscitation box to keep it warm, beating and viable with oxygen and nutrients while en route to the recipient.
While the technology exists, Canadian hospitals don't have it. The Kingston hospital contacted a U.S. team of surgeons to bring their equipment north for the surgery.
When Robbie died on May 7, he became the first Canadian adult to donate his heart after cardiac or circulatory death (DCD), according to Kingston Health Sciences Centre.
Robbie's heart went to an American recipient.
"It is what is holding us together and helping us to cope with loss," his mother said of the donation.
Dr. Gordon Boyd, a critical care physician and neurologist at the Kingston hospital, treated Robbie and applauds the patient and his parents for the legacy he's left.
"He died in ICU with family by his side," Boyd said, choking back tears as he recalled the parents telling Robbie to let go.
Boyd said doctors follow strict criteria for donation after brain death, which includes confirming the pupil is fixed and dilated in response to shining a light into the eye. Boyd said since Robbie's pupil movement was intermittent, he didn't qualify, although he wouldn't ever be able to recover from the brain injury.
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