Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore made a selfless decision that changed the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Joanna Love is a Quebec school teacher that was diagnosed with severe kidney disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Annie Devost is a Longueuil police (SPAL) officer, who wanted to help someone.
"The desire was to give someone life since I didn't have any children, I did not have that luck," said Devost. "I wanted to give life back and that was my way to do it."
Devost said she was in a dark place after grieving the loss of her mother. She heard an interview on the radio with an anonymous kidney donor that inspired her to do the same.
At the same time, Love was on dialysis, waiting for a match.
"They said I had severe kidney disease and I would need a transplant," she said. "I was told five to six years, and so I was like, okay, that's what you have to do because you have a family, and that's what I had to do."
Devost contacted Transplant Quebec and went to the MUHC for tests to see if she would be a good match for someone.
After many tests, she was approved to donate -- but she had one condition.
"I don't want my kidney to go to Halifax or Vancouver, I want it to stay here in Quebec!" she said.
Longueuil police officer Annie Devost donated her kidney to schoolteacher Joanna Love as an act to give back and help another. (Joanna Love)
Love was ecstatic when she was told a match had been found and floored when she found out it was a living stranger who would be donating the organ.
"What kind of person does this?" she said. "This is an extraordinary person."
In Quebec, around 10 per cent of transplanted organs come from living donors, far below the national average.
Living donor kidneys have a far longer lifespan, according to Dr. Ahsan Alam.
Also, a person can live a healthy, active life with one kidney.
"The goal for us is to make sure: one, that they are motivated themselves to be a living donor, we don't want any pressure or coersion or influence to make their decision," said Alam. "The second is that they should be healthy."
Joanna Love was ecstatic when she found out that a stranger had donated a kidney to her after she was diagnosed with severe kidney failure. (Joanna Love)
Love and Devost had their surgeries at the Royal Victoria Hospital, though they didn't know the other was there.
Contact is prohibited unless both parties want to meet.
The women wrote letters to each other and then got together.
"We hugged for so long," said Love. "We had this instant bond with one another."
"I was so happy for her, for her children, for her husband," said Devost.
Devost said that by sharing her story, she hopes to inspire others to donate.
"My mom would be proud of me. I know," she said.
Love also wants to give back.
She got the two matching kidney necklaces with the date of their surgeries inscribed.
"My life has changed completely because of her," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of a 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
How to keep insects out of your house, according to an entomologist and other experts
Now that temperatures have warmed up even more this spring, you may be anxious at the thought of bugs invading your home or you may already be battling the pests. Here are expert tips on how to keep them away.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
A woman took her dog to a shelter to be euthanized. A year later, the dog is up for adoption again
Exhausted and short on options after consulting two veterinary clinics, Kristie Pereira made the gut-wrenching decision last year to take her desperately ill puppy to a Maryland shelter to be euthanized.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Ford thanks Ottawa as minister cites 'deep concerns' over Toronto's decriminalization
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is thanking the federal government for rejecting Toronto's long-stalled pitch to decriminalize the possession of illegal drugs.
G7 officials make progress but no final deal on money for Ukraine from frozen Russian assets
Finance officials from the Group of Seven rich democracies said they had moved toward agreement on a U.S. proposal to squeeze more money for Ukraine from Russian assets frozen in their countries. But the ministers left a final deal to be worked out ahead of a June summit of national leaders.
What we know about the young missionaries and religious leader killed in Haiti
The local director of a mission group in Haiti and a missionary couple from the U.S. were attacked and fatally shot by gang members after leaving a youth group activity at a church, a family member told The Associated Press.
After toddler's near drowning in backyard pool, Quebec mom has warning for parents
A Quebec mother who saved her child from the bottom of a backyard pool last weekend has a message for other families.