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
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.