As Winnipeg prepares to host the 2016 David Foster Miracle Gala, a 13-year-old girl, is getting ready to thank the group that helped save her life.
In 2014, Piper Coffin’s liver and kidney failed. She was immediately transported to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, where she would have to wait for a transplant.
“I felt horrible, cause I had to stay in bed all the time, then every day, I’d have to get blood work,” said Piper.
At 11-years-old she spent nearly six months laying in a hospital bed, undergoing surgeries and dialysis.
“Eventually one time I held out my arm and said, I don’t care anymore.”
Manitoba has the lowest organ donor registration rate in the country, at just two per cent. There were no transplant options for Piper in Winnipeg, so she had to stay in Toronto.
Back home, her twin sister Callysta started to worry, and wonder if she would get to spend time with her sister again.
“I was like ‘oh no, she’s in the hospital and something bad is going to happen’ so I felt really bad then,” said Callysta.
But thanks to the David Foster Foundation, Callysta and her family were able to fly to Toronto regularily, and see Piper recover after a successful operation.
“They were amazing. They worked with a social worker, and they got Callysta on a flight, pretty much with only a couple hours’ notice,” said Piper’s mom, Cynthia Jessop.
Piper is currently getting blood work done every month, but says she is feeling much better, and on the way to a full recovery. But after this experience, her mom wants to stress the importance of signing a donor card.
“You could be a superhero and save so many other people, by just signing that card.”
The gala and concert will be held at the MTS Centre on September 24.
