B.C.’s transplant system has forgotten about the people it’s supposed to serve, a Kelowna MLA says.
Kelowna Centre Conservative Kristina Loewen made that case in a news release Wednesday, telling the story of Lyndsay Richholt, a Kelowna mother, who “continues to suffer while waiting nearly a year for a liver transplant, despite doing everything right.”
Richholt desperately needs a liver transplant. Loewen says Richholt’s case has taken too long.
Richholt was hospitalized with a case of hepatic encephalopathy, a brain disorder caused when a failing liver can no longer filter toxins from the blood, according to her GoFundMe page
“I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know what day or year it was. I couldn’t walk, focus, or connect my thoughts. This is my life with end-stage liver disease,” Richholt wrote.
Loewen says the system has forgotten about Richholt.
“Now entering her 10th month on the liver transplant waitlist, Lyndsay says she has become ‘just a number, just a score’ in a system that miscalculates the severity of her disease. Two potential live donors have completed testing, but she has received no updates, no surgery date, and no clarity from BC Transplant,” the release says.
Loewen called for immediate action.
“This is not just a paperwork problem — it’s a matter of life and death,” said Loewen. “When a dying patient is forced to advocate for themselves against the very system meant to help them, something is deeply broken. BC Transplant must immediately review both its MELD (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) scoring process and its communication failures.”
Richholt added: “I am frustrated that my health care system is failing me. Impatient because I am suffering and dying.”
