(siren blaring)
(crying)
NARRATOR: A newborn infant with a defective heart.
Uh, the coordinator was called.
NARRATOR: A transplant is her only hope.
JUDY BERGEN: It's terrifying.
It's just something we've got to do.
We love her
and just want her to have the best life she can possibly have.
NARRATOR: A heart is found that can save her.
But it's hundreds of miles away.
âª
(talking indistinctly)
It's a desperate race against time.
(siren blaring)
No heart yet?
(helicopter engine running)
NARRATOR: An organ shortage
means thousands of patients wait for months,
even years.
JAMES SHAPIRO: We're desperately short of organ donors.
A quarter of our patients will die.
Waiting for a transplant.
âª
ADRIAN HODGETT: If she doesn't get this now,
within three months, I don't think she would be here anyway.
So that's how critical it is.
NARRATOR: Can scientists find new solutions
to the organ crisis?
DORIS TAYLOR: What we're talking about
is having off-the-shelf tissues.
That's awesome.
NARRATOR: Courageous families face wrenching decisions.
LESLIE KEITH: Our whole world has been turned upside down.
In a matter of moments, our life changed.
Everybody pray.
KAREN ELGERT: This is the loss of their son.
So if we can have, like, five seconds of silence
to just remember the gift that this family is willing to give
through their son.
âª
NARRATOR: And critically ill patients get a new chance at life.
SHAPIRO: It's exciting.
You know, that's what transplant's about.
And of course it, you know, saves lives.
It transforms lives.
It's a wonderful privilege to be part of that.
NARRATOR: "Transplanting Hope,"
right now, on "NOVA."
âª
Major funding for "NOVA" is provided by the following:
(siren blaring in distance)
(man speaking on P.A. system)
(respirator hissing)
NARRATOR: A former builder of sets for films and television,
Lee Sanderson is struggling for life.
His lungs are fatally scarred
from exposure to toxic chemicals at his job.
(breathing rapidly)
His only hope is a lung transplant.
âª
In another part of the hospital,
Alex Reyda has suffered a fatal brain aneurysm.
ELGERT: He's a 25-year-old.
MAN: 25-year-old?
ELGERT: Ruptured A.B.M.
NARRATOR: But before Alex is removed from life support,
he has one last gift to give.
âª
ELGERT: Heart, liver, lungs, kidney, pancreas,
and then a single kidney.
NARRATOR: Alex is an organ donor.
SCOTT GORDON: We'd like to take a moment
to thank Alexander for his gift
and for the family for consenting on his behalf.
A moment of silence, please.
Hey, Lee, how are you?
Okay. Good.
So, um...
Good news for you.
There is a donor.
Already? Already.
So I think I warned you it would happen pretty quickly.
Is everyone okay to go ahead?
Mm-hmm, yes.
Thank you.
âª
DOCTOR: The next time I see you, you have new lungs,
you're in the I.C.U., okay?
Okay, pancreas is coming out.
Thanks...
âª
NARRATOR: A donor like Alex can potentially give eight organs
and save eight lives.
âª
Lee got his new lungs from a different donor.
Three days after his transplant,
they're ready to breathe on their own.
Deep breath-- nice, slow, deep breaths, remember?
Okay, you ready?
One, two, three.
Nice deep breath in.
Cough it all out for me.
Keep coughing.
Cough it out, honey. Keep coughing.
Lee, can you say hi?
Hello. Hi, honey.
âª
NARRATOR: Lee received his new lungs in Canada.
In the United States,
there are 116,000 people waiting for transplants.
Another name is added to the list
every ten minutes.
And 20 people die each day
because they don't get the organs they need.
Canada's population is much smaller,
but organ donation here is less common,
so the shortage is just as critical.
SAM SHEMIE: Organ donation, relatively speaking,
it's not a big volume of patients
that we're talking about in the country.
And although it's a relatively rare event,
it is such an important impact event,
because we know that organ donors
can save many, many lives.
NARRATOR: The stakes are never higher
than when a newborn needs a transplant.
Harlow Bergen is just two weeks old.
She was born with a fatal heart defect.
Only a transplant can save her.
But for infants,
donated hearts are extremely rare.
And even if she gets a transplant,
Harlow could face lifelong health problems,
starting with the possibility
that her body might reject the new heart.
SIMON URSCHEL: I think we all agree that transplant for sure
gives her the best chance to lead as close as possible
to normal life.
You do know, however, too,
that it's not going to be a walk in the park.
It is exchanging a life-threatening situation
in which she is now,
with kind of a chronic disease,
or chronic abnormality.
So you know that she will, lifelong,
depend on taking medications.
And in children that are immune-suppressed,
that can cause a lymphoma,
which is basically a type of leukemia,
and that's not that uncommon.
But I think it's in all fairness important
for you to be aware of that as a possible option.
But also be aware that 90% of our kids
do really, really well.
JUDY BERGEN: Yeah, you think
about going through the whole heart transplant
and then maybe later on dealing with cancer
or something like that.
It's terrifying.
It's just something we've got to do.
We love her and just want her
to have the best life she can possibly have,
so...
I don't know if we really have many options
at this point. No.
Good morning.
NARRATOR: All across Canada,
organ donation teams will now be on alert
for a heart for Harlow.
SURGEON: Karen!
Yeah.
Watch your pulmonal bleed.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Karen Elgert is overseeing the search.
SURGEON: Pulmonal bleed gone.
Yup, on, in.
Perfused.
NARRATOR: Karen is a nurse with HOPE,
the hospital's Human Organ Procurement team.
Once a family decides to donate,
she coordinates the whole process.
So it's gonna be... Okay, O.R. six.
O.R. six, yeah.
Wonderful, thank you, Chris.
NARRATOR: Karen is in constant contact
with hospitals across the country.
She's the first to know when organs become available.
WOMAN (on phone): So I'm actually calling you with, um, a heart offer.
Okay.
WOMAN: Blood type is O-positive.
NARRATOR: It's an infant heart, and it was found quickly.
The Bergens have only had to wait for two weeks.
URSCHEL: I guess you can kind of guess what's going on,
if we're coming with the big team.
So we actually do have, um, an organ for her--
a little bit smaller child than her.
It's gonna be sometime tonight,
coming out sometime tomorrow morning.
So just wanted to give you a heads up.
We're pretty happy about it, too.
I think it's actually the perfect time,
and it is a very good organ.
Hi, buddy.
Guess what?
Harlow's gonna get a new heart.
BOY: Wow!
Yeah, say "yay!"
âª
(talking indistinctly)
(crying): I prayed for it all week that it would happen this week.
âª
NARRATOR: As Judy and Jason brace themselves
for a long night of waiting,
a massive effort gets under way
to retrieve the heart for Harlow.
Now that Karen knows the heart is a match,
she and a team of retrieval surgeons
spring into action.
So we are now en route.
âª
(jet engine running)
NARRATOR: They charter a jet
and take off for a hospital
on the other side of the country,
where a dying baby is on life support.
The donated heart must maintain its oxygen supply
and keep beating until the last possible second.
ELGERT: From the time the heart is stopped
till the time that it's beating again
in the recipient,
there's a very finite time,
which is, like, for adults about four hours,
and then for peds,
they may be upwards of six or seven.
They don't like that,
but sometimes you have no choice.
(radio squawking)
âª
(siren blaring)
ELGERT: Hi, yes.
Yeah, hi, Dr. Rebeyka.
REBEYKA (on phone): What's going on?
So the heart looks good.
REBEYKA: Yeah?
And our E.T.A. is about 2:30 to 3:00.
âª
(Harlow crying)
NARRATOR: Once Karen gives the green light,
Harlow's surgeons prepare.
Just before 3:00 a.m., she's wheeled in.
âª
The retrieval team must be close before Harlow is put to sleep,
but she must be ready for transplant
as soon as the heart arrives.
Every minute the new heart lacks oxygen
comes at a cost.
(radio squawking)
(jet engine running)
REBEYKA: They landed.
MAN: Yeah?
NARRATOR: Surgeon Ivan Rebeyka
has been in contact with Karen all night
to calculate the perfect moment to open Harlow's chest.
(siren blaring)
(radio squawking)
(saw buzzing)
The coordinator was called.
(siren blaring)
âª
No heart yet?
âª
NARRATOR: Just as the new heart enters the operating room,
Harlow's damaged heart is removed.
(machines beeping)
âª
(machine beeping)
Let's see the new heart.
Okay.
Okay, are the lungs on?
They are.
Let's have a look here.
Let's just have a little peek,
'cause that left atrial line is a little bit fussy.
Pull it back a smidge.
Okay, that looks good.
Okay, start hemoing.
So heart's on its own now.
It's a good heart, it just, it came from a long ways away,
so it was in the bucket there
for, like, five and a half hours, huh?
You know, this one, this started up, like,
within two minutes of us taking that clamp off,
and that's usually a pretty good sign.
(machines beeping)
Hi.
Mr. Bergen, we haven't met.
I'm Dr. Rebeyka-- how are you?
Good, yourself? Good.
So we're all done.
Everything went very, very well.
So, um, heart's working on its own now.
It's a bit early to relax completely,
but things look pretty good,
so I think we're in good shape.
Good. Okay?
Thank you. Okay.
Thanks. Thank you.
REBEYKA: I'll talk to you later, folks.
âª
NARRATOR: Because their immune systems are still developing,
babies generally have fewer problems with rejection
than adults.
But Harlow will still have to take anti-rejection drugs
all her life.
And she could end up needing a second transplant
if anything goes wrong
as she and her new heart grow.
âª
One floor away,
another surgical team is rushing
to salvage what they can after an organ donor's death.
âª
17 years to go through your undergrad for a few years,
and then going into medical school for four years,
then doing your residency, which is a minimum of six years,
but during mine and Dr. Freed's,
we both did a Ph.D. during our residency.
That's 17 years after you graduate from high school
before you start working.
So I truly mean it, and I feel very privileged
to say that I trained my whole life for today.
Doesn't matter if we're gonna get a little less sleep today,
it's a big day for the team.
âª
(talking indistinctly)
NARRATOR: These surgeons
are retrieving multiple organs from a brain-dead donor.
NURSE: Sure.
(talking indistinctly)
NAGENDRAN: These are some of the nicest lungs
I've ever seen in my whole life.
They're absolutely spectacular.
They're as good as they could ever be,
and it would've been such a shame
had we not been able to use it.
One in three of our patients waiting for lung transplants
don't survive to getting one,
and that's why there's no give up.
It's just fight to the very end for us
every time we get a chance.
âª
NARRATOR: This donor's kidneys, liver, and lungs
are successfully retrieved.
But tragically, the heart cannot be used.
Trapped too long in the chest without oxygen,
the heart tissue has died.
More than 60% of all donated hearts
are not actually used for transplants
because too much time goes by after a donor's death.
âª
But a new experiment might offer hope
that some of these hearts could stay viable
for a longer window.
It's called ex vivo technology,
a way of keeping organs alive outside the body.
You want to start the insulin soon?
NARRATOR: Jayan Nagendran and Darren Freed have invented a machine
that keeps a heart warm and oxygenated
instead of storing it on ice.
This could give doctors more time
to use it for transplant.
They've had some success experimenting with lungs.
This is the first time
they're trying to bring a discarded heart back to life.
Did you guys see that? The heart beat?
Did you see that?
The heart is an amazing organ.
You give it blood, and it will beat.
It's absolutely amazing.
You actually don't have to do anything.
Look at that.
(staff talking indistinctly)
NARRATOR: But after pumping for just a few minutes,
a blood clot makes the heart seize up.
MAN: You've lost it for sure.
(talking indistinctly)
DOCTOR: Oh, yeah, I just saw it go down.
So this is our problem, right?
We should, we shouldn't have clots.
NAGENDRAN: That clot.
FREED: And so this has plugged up the tubing
and the pumps and everything.
We're very meticulous about anticoagulation
to make sure that this doesn't happen.
The heart is filling up with clot,
instead of heparinized blood or thinned blood.
For the first, the first time we do this,
to lose it this way is, you know, devastating.
It's incredibly frustrating.
This was still an important first step
even though it, it didn't go to fruition.
Even though it went down in flames.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: The doctors can't hide their disappointment.
They'll study this failure
to help refine the technology.
And if they eventually perfect a technique to save more organs,
it could change the odds for thousands of patients.
The fascinating thing about these ex vivo technologies
is that organs that otherwise were not transplantable
can now be removed and repaired,
and so that means
that you can use perhaps many more organs
that previously you couldn't use before.
So I think the potential is phenomenal.
There's no reason
why you can't envision a future
where, if I have a failed lung,
maybe I need my organ taken out of my body,
repaired outside of my body, remodeled,
and then transplanted back into my body--
so I can be my own donor.
NARRATOR: Until that day comes,
the essence of transplant medicine remains.
Saving lives always means losing someone
who is precious to a family.
(woman speaking on P.A. system)
âª
SHEMIE: In intensive care, it is routine for us
to work at the junction of life-saving treatments
and the potential for people to die.
And our job with families
is to recognize when there is no longer anything
that we can do to save that person's life.
We've exhausted all possibilities.
KEITH: Jesus, please, Jesus, help my son.
Please bring him back to me.
(murmuring prayer)
Dear Lord Jesus, help my son.
âª
I'll do anything, I'll do anything, Jesus.
I'll do anything.
I'll do anything, Jesus.
I'll do anything.
(talking indistinctly)
NARRATOR: 28-year-old Matthew Babchishin
is in intensive care with a serious brain injury.
Oh, boy.
KEITH (crying): You're such a giving man.
You're so giving, Matthew.
I know you can do it,
I know you can fight.
KEITH: Our whole world has been turned upside down.
Our whole world.
We were such a content family and just...
We just felt so lucky.
And then bang.
In a matter of moments, our life changed.
What I'll need is...
NARRATOR: For three days, doctors have been searching for any sign
that Matthew's brain is still functioning.
CARL BABCHISHIN: This is a very scary day for us.
We do know we were told 72 hours.
We do know these tests are going to show a lot,
give some answers.
(voice breaking): I'm very afraid of what the answers could be.
(equipment beeping)
You may turn on the light now, Summer.
(light clicks on)
You're able to, you can come in if you wish.
I'm just repeating what we did this morning, okay?
Yes, sir.
You can hold his hand if you wish.
My son, my beautiful boy.
You're so blessed, Matthew, you're so blessed.
Yeah, he will be moving.
We just stopped the drug for the exam, and then...
My blessing, my boy.
I'm just going to put this in his mouth
to check his gag reflex.
Don't suffer, my boy.
I love you, my son, I love you.
Okay, would you like to stay here?
I'm just going out to the family conference room
to meet with your family.
Would you like to stay here or join me?
I want to join you if you're gonna...
Okay, we'll come back. Yeah.
You have an opportunity to come back.
So we'll just go out there now.
Okay.
CARL BABCHISHIN: I've been pacing up and down these hallways,
and all of a sudden,
it reminded me of when Matthew was born,
and the similarity of me pacing that hallway,
and it struck me
how I was waiting for a birth of Matthew again.
That's what I'm waiting for.
I'm waiting for a birth.
(Keith sniffling, phone dings)
I'm Dr. Kutsogiannis,
I'm the attending intensive care unit physician
this week here.
I've been caring for Matt since Monday.
As you're aware, he had an episode
where his heart stopped for a prolonged period of time.
It was at least 20 minutes
before he recovered his blood pressure... Wow.
...when we look at everything from start to finish.
He's been ill in the I.C.U.,
he's been comatose in the I.C.U.
I had organized another special test yesterday
to be done today,
and we know when we don't receive signal
in the lower part of the brain on both sides,
that we can tell you with a very, very high certainty
that he won't recover meaningful brain function.
(crying): Oh, no.
(family sobbing)
KUTSOGIANNIS: So we're left at this circumstance
where... What do you...?
I don't think any family would want an individual
to be left on life support in this circumstance,
in the long run.
BABCHISHIN: So what you're also saying, there is no miracle?
I'm saying that I can tell you with...
It's done, yeah. Yeah, pretty good.
We don't want to make an error in this situation,
because you can understand, it's someone's life, so...
Yes, I understand what you've....
Well, I think at this stage,
I'd recommend that he, in the long term--
by that I mean days-- not stay on life support,
because we're really prolonging the dying process.
BABCHISHIN: Les, what do you think?
Yeah.
I just want to be by Matthew's side.
Now I know I'm saying goodbye.
He's such a special boy.
I personally would like it the sooner the better,
because I don't want him to be
in this comatose state.
All I want to do is hold my boy
for the last couple of days or hours that I have.
KUTSOGIANNIS: I have one more thing that I want to discuss.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
It's an obligation on my part by law, too.
Mm-hmm, I know what you're gonna talk about.
Yes.
And that is the issue of organ and tissue donation.
But it's an introduction to that,
to think about, to discuss,
and we can have another discussion tomorrow
regarding that.
âª
BABCHISHIN: I love you.
Thank you. KUTSOGIANNIS: You're welcome.
âª
KEITH: I love you so much.
(crying): I love you, Matthew, I love you so much, Matthew.
I love you so much.
(Keith sobbing)
âª
NARRATOR: For Matthew's family, this is the end of hope.
(sobbing)
And in the face of their loss,
they must make a profound decision.
There's a narrow window of time
to decide whether part of him
could save the life of someone else.
(all sniffling)
âª
Surgeon James Shapiro understands the urgency.
Many of his patients are dying on the transplant wait list.
SHAPIRO: Hello, David-- morning, how are you?
DAVID: Oh, still pretty sore.
You probably want some Creon.
Good morning. MAN: Morning, sir.
He didn't get dialyzed over the weekend?
Yesterday they didn't send him out to do it. Okay.
You might need to go back to the dialysis again
a little but after the surgery, it's always a possibility.
We'll see you later.
SHAPIRO: We're desperately short of organ donors.
A quarter of our patients will die waiting for a transplant.
Some of them will wait years for a transplant,
in certain blood groups.
Some of them will go straight, you know,
close to the top of the list,
because they're so sick.
Many people will die waiting
because an organ doesn't come in time.
(talking indistinctly)
NARRATOR: The shortage of organs
means many patients get sicker and sicker as they wait.
(murmuring)
You all ready for your big day?
(chuckles): Yeah.
Yeah?
Scared, but all ready.
That's normal.
NARRATOR: Pat Fisher is in end-stage liver failure.
It's gonna be a good day.
(crying): Yeah.
NARRATOR: She's been waiting for weeks--
and finally, there's a matching donor.
(gasping)
But by now, Pat is very weak.
This will make her transplant even riskier.
Ouch.
HODGETT: The end result would be,
if she doesn't get this now,
within three months, I don't think she would be here anyway.
So that's how critical it is.
It was a very tight timeline for her.
(moaning)
SHAPIRO: She has what we call a high meld score,
which means that the liver's been very diseased,
very scarred, lot of pressure in the veins,
lot of risk of bleeding.
This is big surgery.
This isn't just routine.
There's nothing routine about this.
âª
I'm so scared.
Don't always get a second chance.
This is it, this is your second chance.
âª
SHAPIRO: We've just clamped the major vein for the liver,
the vena cava.
So we're about to cut the liver out.
All right, so here comes the liver.
Can you see how horribly diseased this liver is?
It really is, it's horrible, yeah?
So actually, she required a little bit of resuscitation.
Okay. Okay.
NARRATOR: With a patient as fragile as Pat,
the surgeons are working at the limits of medicine.
HODGETT: You can't say that it's definitive
that she's gonna be all right, right?
There could be lots of problems,
and the end result of some of them is death, right?
So it's not fair,
but these things happen in life, and that's the way it is.
And it's go salad bowl, three, two, one, in we go.
Now the liver enters the field.
âª
NARRATOR: As expected, Pat's transplant is difficult.
It takes the entire night to complete.
So we're ready to unclamp in about 30 seconds, Tim.
All right.
âª
When you watch a new organ come to life like this,
the patient's own blood fills the organ
and it starts to function,
it never fails to, you know, give me some thrill.
It still, still gives me a kick, even now.
Good job.
SHAPIRO: Somebody has end-stage liver disease
at one moment,
you release the clamps
and now they suddenly have a new chance at life again.
It's exciting, you know,
and that's what transplant's about.
And of course, it, you know, saves lives,
it helps people, transforms lives.
It's a, it's a...
wonderful privilege to be part of that.
âª
NARRATOR: Pat's new liver begins working right away,
but she has many other complications,
including a series of life-threatening infections
that are resistant to antibiotics.
It takes four months
of round-the-clock intensive care
before she's finally well enough to move to a regular ward.
FISHER: Oh, is this Dr. Shapiro?
SHAPIRO: It is.
Oh, hello.
Pat, how are you?
Good.
Very nice to see you again.
I'll come in to shake your hand in a second.
Been a long haul, hasn't it?
Too long. Yeah.
Yeah, but I did it.
You really did.
Difficult transplant. Yeah.
You were very, very, very sick.
Yeah, and this liver's worked very well for you.
SHAPIRO: When you set on a journey with transplant,
you're taking an organ that can save somebody's life.
And once you've made that commitment,
you've got to make sure that you do everything possible
to get a successful outcome.
Others will approach you and say, "This is hopeless.
"You've been here for three months now,
"we're making no headway,
we should just pull the plug and let the person die."
But we've got to think more
than how much is a person's life worth
and how much to give, how much not to give.
You've got to think about the value of the organ.
You have a huge responsibility
to the organ donor family and to the organ
to do what it's meant to do,
which is to save a life.
Very lovely to see you, Pat.
Yeah, it's nice to have met you.
My lifesaver. Well, likewise,
it's been a pleasure to look after you--
great pleasure to look after you.
(crying) Have a hug.
There we go.
All right. There.
Good luck in rehab.
Keep your spirits up.
Lovely to see you, Pat.
Okay, bye-bye.
NARRATOR: Despite her struggles,
Pat is still one of the lucky ones.
Hundreds of people die in Canada each year
waiting for transplants,
and thousands in the United States.
âª
At the Texas Heart Institute in Houston,
Doris Taylor and her team are taking a new approach
to addressing the organ shortage.
Let's try the light on this one
and see if we can get a good image
of the vasculature.
Okay?
TAYLOR: As the number of people who need organs goes up,
the number of donors has plateaued.
What that means is, we had to find new solutions.
NARRATOR: The new solutions they're working on
start with donated organs that are not suitable for transplant.
TAYLOR: We take an organ, a cadaveric organ
that couldn't otherwise be used for transplant.
And we strip that organ of its cells
by using a detergent or other solution
to basically wash those cells
out of the existing organ scaffold.
And what's left is what we call the extracellular matrix.
When you wash the cells out,
what you have left is that underlying framework
where the cells sit
that looks like heart, looks like a liver,
looks like a kidney,
because it is a heart, a kidney, a liver framework.
NARRATOR: Building a new organ starts with stem cells
that could come from a patient's own body.
TAYLOR: Stem cells are simply cells that can do two things.
They can make more of themselves, self-renew,
and they can differentiate
or become different kinds of cells.
RESEARCHER: It's good, there are no clumps.
WOMAN: No clumps? No.
No clumps and lots of cells.
Yes. I'm excited.
NARRATOR: The stem cells they're using
don't yet have a specific function,
but when they're infused into the organ framework,
an amazing thing happens.
TAYLOR: Those stem cells seem to get cues
from that matrix
about where to go and what to become.
There are biologic cues in there
that say, "Oh, I should be a muscle cell here.
"I should be a blood vessel here.
I should be an artery here and a vein here."
And we can put cells in
and have them migrate to the right place.
NARRATOR: But getting stem cells to the right place
is only the first step.
The real question is, "Will the organs work?"
Can they build a heart
that will actually pump blood and beat?
âª
TAYLOR: Right.
NARRATOR: Each heart spends several days in a special incubator
that mimics the body's natural environment.
Too close-- here, I'll...
NARRATOR: Then the heart is removed from the incubator
and a flow of nutrients is pumped through it
to see if it will beat.
TAYLOR: You can see the vessels.
That's gorgeous.
RESEARCHER: And what's beautiful is,
you can see that there's actually even blood flowing
to the coronaries. Yeah.
RESEARCHER: There's an air embolus,
but, I mean, you can see it.
That's awesome. Yeah.
It feels really good.
RESEARCHER: Yeah, yeah.
TAYLOR: When you could take that heart,
take cells that you were growing in the lab
and transplant them back in and have them beat again,
that was one of the "wow" moments in my life.
TAYLOR: Good, good.
Turn it just...
(woman speaking in distance)
TAYLOR: Yes.
Yes, nice.
Everything that could have gone wrong didn't.
It was, it was just...
a home run.
NARRATOR: These hearts are not yet ready
for human transplant.
But Taylor believes
organs by design could someday save the lives
of thousands of patients.
This one's still under way, right?
NARRATOR: Her team is also experimenting
with building lungs, livers, and kidneys.
TAYLOR: What we're talking about
is potentially having off-the-shelf tissues.
They're, they're two pieces to that that are revolutionary.
One, we can potentially build an organ.
Two, we can build an organ that matches their body,
because as you know, when you get a transplant,
you're essentially trading your original disease
for another disease,
which is fighting rejection for the rest of your life.
I'll be happy when we do our first clinical trial.
I'll be happier when there are enough organs
for patients who need them.
NARRATOR: Research like Taylor's
could transform transplant medicine.
But for many patients,
these advances will come too late.
I came here for a two-hour doctor's appointment.
Been here ever since.
Waiting sucks.
(equipment hissing)
NARRATOR: Eight months ago,
Willis Wood's heart began to fail.
As he waits for a donor,
he's being kept alive by an external pump
that circulates his blood.
There have been no matches.
And his doctor knows time is running out.
I need really big breaths this time.
(breathing deeply)
So you're probably the highest-status person
in Alberta right now. Yeah?
You're a big guy and this is why it's become difficult.
The organs that I've seen that have come in
are about 60 to 70 kilos.
That's, like, 60 pounds smaller.
That's a small child, right?
Yeah.
So if there's an organ for a heart
that's anywhere between 80 to 90,
Dr. Mullen in Edmonton and Dr. Kim have agreed
that we will go ahead and do it
if it's a perfect match otherwise. Yeah.
He's on call for the weekend,
I'm on call for the weekend,
so if we get a heart... I'm on call for the weekend.
You're on-- I know, you're always on call.
And I'll be here the whole weekend,
so I'll keep you updated every day, okay?
Anything else I can help you with?
Find me a heart.
I'm on it.
Okay, talk to you later.
Okay, thank you, sir.
(woman talking in background)
NARRATOR: There just aren't many donor hearts
large enough for Willis.
But if he gets any weaker, he won't survive a transplant.
(equipment beeping)
(crying): I have grandchildren.
That's what it really means to me.
It's...
I want to get out and do things with them.
And I'm willing to fight for that.
If it was just for me, I'd have probably gave up.
But...
I want to be there for my grandkids.
âª
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, Matthew Babchishin is still on life support.
Scott Gordon from the HOPE team
has come to discuss his family's decision
about organ donation.
Thank you for coming.
Yeah.
I'm sorry that... I mean...
(weeping)
Yeah.
These are all the have-tos in life
that you never prepare yourself for, right?
If we could do any good, Matthew would want that.
BABCHISHIN: Matthew was born here,
and it's kind of sad
that he started his life and finished his life
in this hospital.
We were so proud that he was born here.
So we have all agreed that we will...
Matthew's organs are to... it will be donated.
That is a given. Which are listed as, like you said...
Yeah, I can go through all that specifically.
Yeah.
When it comes to the tissue,
we did not realize part of the skin part
was, to the degree.
And we did not realize the need for it
at the same time.
I just want to donate the organs,
and I'm not comfortable with the tissue at all.
I know it would be going against Matthew's wishes.
KEITH: I'm not comfortable with it, either.
I want to keep that intact.
I've had Matthew taken from me,
he's giving his organs,
he's lost his life.
I'm just going for how I feel.
Can we just... let's move forward, okay?
We're moving too slowly for me, I need...
Let's, let's, let's move forward.
You know, let's, we're being all this delicate,
and I need to get to my son, let's move forward.
BABCHISHIN: Let's do it.
KEITH: Just do it.
âª
BABCHISHIN: Given the person that we know Matthew was,
we would know that this is what he would have wanted.
He would have done it without hesitation.
âª
(breathing heavily)
God.
Oh, my God, oh, my God.
(voice trembling): Oh, Matthew,
you should be filling out that form for me.
(sobbing): Why did I have to fill that out for you?
(phone ringing)
ELGERT (voiceover): Karen speaking.
KAPASI (on phone): Hi, Karen.
Hi, Ali.
We're trying to rush this as quickly as possible.
This is a 28-year-old male,
84 centimeters and 101 kilograms.
NARRATOR: Matthew's death is just hours away.
A huge effort has begun to save his organs,
and a handful of people across Canada
have just gotten the call that could save their lives.
(helicopter engine running)
âª
I need to talk to Darren.
Do you want me to page him?
Yeah, I need to page him.
NARRATOR: Before Matthew's life support is withdrawn,
surgical teams and transplant recipients all over the country
must be ready.
Delays are inevitable.
KEITH: Oh, no, this is so unfair.
(sobbing): This is so unfair.
The O.R. has delayed.
They would like to delay for one hour.
WOMAN: Just a second.
Okay.
I wonder...
Can I call you at a different phone, Darren?
I want to wake up from this nightmare.
Oh, my son.
Oh, my God.
NARRATOR: Two floors away,
the operating room is getting ready.
ELGERT: This has been an incredibly stressful time for everyone,
because it's been so busy,
but this is a loss of their son,
and it's been really, really hard on them,
and as always, it's so totally unexpected.
So if we can have, like, five seconds of silence
to just remember the gift that this family
is willing to give through their son.
So they're gonna withdraw life support, like, any minute now.
Okay, what I will need from you in sequence
is the scalpel, the skin knife,
and the saw coulee.
âª
ELGERT: Asystole 20:06.
KEITH: Go, Matthew-- go save some lives, Matthew.
Go do it, Matthew.
Goodbye, my son.
Bye, Matthew.
Goodbye, my son.
I will see you again, Matthew.
WOMAN: I'll call you when we're done, okay?
I'll see you again, Matthew.
I love you, bud.
I love you, Matthew.
Goodbye, Matthew.
I love you, Matthew-- I love you!
I love you, Matthew!
(faintly): I love you, my son.
WOMAN: Okay, so we're going to go in to the right.
(elevator dings)
âª
NARRATOR: Off the respirator,
Matthew's organs are starved of oxygen.
Everyone knows it's now a race against time.
âª
ELGERT: Who's checking the I.D.?
Yeah.
MAN: That's all right-- that's all right.
Okay, suction's up.
Dr. White, give me the skin knife, please.
Skin knife.
Knife moving.
Retractor.
âª
FREED: We have found you a very good heart.
Lots of complications that can occur along the way.
Yeah, well, infection, bleeding, yeah.
Any one of those things can contribute
to not actually making it through this whole experience.
Yeah.
I'm raring to go.
I'm ready to start the final leg of this journey.
(equipment beeping)
NARRATOR: The identity of Willis's donor is unknown to him
and to us.
Matthew's organs went to others.
âª
Hello.
KEITH: You know, Matthew is gonna shine down and just,
just say, "Thank you, Mom and Dad, for doing this,
and I'm so grateful that you made this decision for me."
I'm so happy
where they're doing this for Matt.
It's all for good, for Matt.
NARRATOR: Two years after his transplant,
Willis Wood is fully recovered
and playing with his grandchildren.
Unfortunately, Pat Fisher continues to struggle
with health issues.
But Harlow Bergen is a healthy toddler.
SHAPIRO: Taking people near to death's door
and eventually seeing them go back
to leading an entirely normal life,
we know that can happen every time we do a transplant.
That's what we see time and time again,
and that's what's rewarding for us.
SHEMIE: The first thing that we tell people all the time is,
"Become aware, and whatever you decide,
"make sure you tell your family,
"because it will be your family
"that will be asked to make a decision for you
"when you're incapacitated,
and you might die and become a donor."
âª
BABCHISHIN: Tonight's event is a celebration in memory of Matthew.
KEITH: We want you to know that Matthew was an organ donor.
We knew that he would want to give this gift of life
to someone who needed it.
âª
NARRATOR: An icon of American engineering.
One of the longest single-span covered bridges in the world...
destroyed in a hurricane.
MAN (moaning): Oh, my God!
(man shouts)
NARRATOR: Now an elite team of artisans and engineers
races to rebuild it
before rising waters wash it away again.
"Operation: Bridge Rescue,"
next time, on "NOVA."
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is provided by the following:
âª
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To order, visit shopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.
"NOVA" is also available on Amazon Prime Video.
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