Kelowna woman still awaiting needed liver transplant
Published 5:00 am Wednesday, February 18, 2026
A Kelowna woman with end-stage liver failure has no transplant operation in sight as her family anxiously awaits a life-saving surgery.
Lyndsay Richholt has been battling autoimmune hepatitis for over 18 years. In recent years, the disease worsened with Richholt entering end-stage liver failure. At one point, last March, she was told she only had six months to live.
More recently, the family has had some glimmers of hope, with Richholt previously being scheduled for a liver transplant last December, but that process was ultimately delayed after her donor suffered an incident.
Later on Jan. 28, Richholt’s family had announced that two other donors had been lined up and approved for a transplant. At the time, the family expected a surgery to be scheduled soon after the good news.
Nearly three weeks later, Richholt and her family are facing disappointment again.
In a post on Richholt’s social media account, the family said they have not received an update or timeline from BC Transplant for a potential surgery.
“We got an email from a patient care coordinator with BC transplant earlier this week stating that there are no updates to give, no predictability of when a surgery may be,” the post read.
The post also explains that Richholt’s health continues to deteriorate.
“This week, Lyndsay went on a new medication that is often used for cancer patients to help with the severe nausea she experiences every minute of the day. She can’t eat, and she spends about two hours a day sitting in her downstairs hospital bed and the rest of the time sleeping in her bed upstairs,” the post read.
“This is not living and has gone on for far, far, far too long.”
