Sarnia, Ont. woman searches for organ transplant match on social media
A Sarnia, Ont. woman is searching for an organ donor via social media, after her kidneys started failing for a second time at the beginning of 2019.
“It affects me all week long. I never get a break and that is just what I am looking for.”
It all started 35 years ago, when Heather Williamson visited a farm for a field trip with her school.
She and her classmates were welcomed with glasses of milk.
Unknowingly, the glass of milk was infected with E.coli and the then five-year-old Williamson was sent to the hospital where she was first put on dialysis.
After overcoming the initial hospital visit, Williamson had a relatively normal life until her kidneys started to fail for a second time in 2019.
Since then, she has spent three out of seven days in hospital on dialysis, a medical treatment that cleans the blood of toxins since the kidney no longer does it naturally.
Heather Williamson undergoes dialysis in this undated image.
Heather Williamson undergoes dialysis in this undated image.
“Every other day having to go to the hospital, today is a washout because I had dialysis yesterday. Two needles every other day in my arm, it's hard on the whole entire body…I just want a normal life.”
Forty-year-old Williamson, who is known for helping others, finds it difficult to ask people for help.
But now she is overwhelmed by the number of inquiries she is getting after she started her Facebook group, Kidney for Heather.
The group was created to help find a willing and able organ donor to help Williamson get off dialysis for good.
“Everyday I read the messages and I am just taken aback, I can’t believe it, it gives me hope.”
A message posted to Heather Williamson's Facebook group 'Kidney for Heather.'
A message posted to Heather Williamson's Facebook group 'Kidney for Heather.'
Williamson says she was just recently added to the transplant waitlist at the Living Organ Transplant Centre at London Health Sciences Centre.
She says the wait time for a transplant is upwards of three years.
If she was able to find a willing donor in the coming months, she could be off dialysis after just over a year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7010582.1724773946!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Air Canada to offer flexible ticket rebooking as federal conciliation ends in pilot talks
Air Canada said it would offer flexible rebooking of tickets to its flyers, owing to uncertainty associated with a possible pilots strike at the end of a 21-day cooling off period that begins on Tuesday.
Two workers killed and a third injured in an explosion at a Delta Air Lines facility in Atlanta
Two workers were killed and another seriously injured in an explosion Tuesday at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near the Atlanta airport.
Ontario woman denied lottery jackpot after forgetting where she bought ticket
When an Ontario woman found out she won the lottery playing Lotto 649, she said she was excited to collect her prize of $1,003, but that excitement quickly turned to frustration when she couldn’t collect her winnings.
Contact lenses recalled in Canada over 'quality issue'
Several types of contact lenses have been recalled due to 'an isolated quality issue,' Health Canada reported Monday.
Consul-general to New York set to testify about government purchase of residence
Canada's consul-general in New York has been given a new opportunity to testify before a House committee about his official residence, which the government recently purchased for $9 million.
Israeli military says it has rescued another hostage abducted in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack
Israel said it rescued a hostage from an underground tunnel in Gaza on Tuesday, freeing one of the scores of people abducted during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that ignited the war in Gaza.
Sid 'Vicious' Eudy, pro wrestling star in 1990s, dies at 63
Sidney Raymond Eudy, a professional wrestler known as Sid Vicious who was known for his intense persona and imposing stature, has died, his son announced Monday. He was 63.
Zuckerberg says the White House pressured Facebook over some COVID-19 content during the pandemic
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to 'censor' some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and vowed that the social media giant would push back if it faced such demands again.
China accuses Canada of protectionism over 100% tariffs on electric vehicles
China on Tuesday accused Canada of protectionism after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government imposed a 100 per cent tariff on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles, matching U.S. duties on Chinese-made EVs.