Unvaccinated mother of five receives double lung transplant in Montreal after contracting COVID-19
Three COVID-19 patients who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated have received double lung transplants at a Montreal hospital after their lungs were irreversibly damaged by the disease.
One patient was a 49-year-old mother of five who spent two months intubated and in a coma at the Jewish General Hospital.
The details of the story, first reported by La Presse and confirmed to CTV News by a hospital spokesperson, prompted thorny debates among staff, with some health-care workers questioning the ethics around such a decision.
Dr. Charles Poirier, the medical director of the lung transplant program at the University of Montreal Hospital Centre (CHUM) explained that refusing someone a transplant is still considered to be quite drastic.
“The death penalty doesn’t exist in Canada. They didn’t kill anyone. They just didn’t take the vaccine. They still have access to [care],” Poirier told the French-language news outlet. Poirier was not available for an interview with CTV News on Wednesday.
The patients were eligible to get the vaccine but did not get the full complement of shots. That wasn’t because they were anti-vaccine, said Poirier.
“Yes, they should have been vaccinated. Yes, they knew, but they weren't people who were against vaccines. These are patients who said they didn't have the time: ‘I'm going to do it later, it won't happen to me…’” the doctor was quoted as saying.
But once infected, they all developed rare complications of COVID-19, in particular, a kind of pneumonia that scarred the lungs and made it almost impossible to breathe.
The need for oxygen was so great, the three would require new sets of lungs to survive.
After being thoroughly evaluated by a team of various doctors and health-care workers for their suitability for transplants, the three patients were all placed on an ‘urgent’ waiting list.
Despite doctors telling them nothing could be done, the 49-year-old woman's family persisted and eventually, a transplant was considered. A compatible donor was found quickly and the woman is now back at home recovering.
Her partner reiterated she is neither a conspiracy theorist nor anti-vaccine but just thought they were in good health, and didn’t need to get vaccinated. The couple told La Presse it wants people who remain unvaccinated not to take it lightly.
The woman’s life is now forever changed as a result – and has likely been dramatically shortened with an average life expectancy of five years post-transplant, Poirier said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.