MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
October 19, 2012
LONDON, Ontario –October 19 marks the 25 year anniversary of Bertille Demers’ liver transplant at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). Celebrating her 84th birthday next week, Demers, from Moncton, New Brunswick is one of the longest living transplant recipients in Canada.
“I am very, very lucky,” says Demers. “The liver transplant really did not change my life at all; I have been very healthy since the transplant.”
Dr. William Wall, transplant surgeon, LHSC, performed the transplant. “Patients like Mrs. Demers serve as an inspiration to the nurses and doctors who care for transplant patients,” says Wall. “I remember her transplant well; she was very motivated at a time when transplantation of the liver was not very common. I hope she lives to be 100.”
Demers spent three months in London waiting for her transplant and is still in contact with many of the friends she made during that time.
“Congratulations to Bertille. In our program we have many amazing stories like this, but they are each still miracles,” says Dr. Anthony Jevnikar, co-director, the Multi-Organ Transplant Program, LHSC. “It would be very hard to improve on a transplant that is now 25 years old, but we have made, and continue to make, advances that will contribute to more amazing transplant stories like Bertille’s.”
The Multi-Organ Transplant Program at LHSC is one of the leading transplant programs in Canada, performing about 160 transplants annually. Almost 5,000 Canadians have received transplants, including heart, kidney, kidney-pancreas, liver, and multi-organ transplantation, at University Hospital and Children's Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre.
About London Health Sciences Centre
London Health Sciences Centre has been in the forefront of medicine in Canada for 137 years and offers the broadest range of specialized clinical services in Ontario. Building on the traditions of its founding hospitals to provide compassionate care in an academic teaching setting, London Health Sciences Centre is home to Children’s Hospital, South Street Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, two family medical centres, and two research institutes – Children’s Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute, a joint research initiative with St. Joseph’s Health Care London. As a leader in medical discovery and health research, London Health Sciences Centre has a history of over 50 international and national firsts and attracts top clinicians and researchers from around the world. As a regional referral centre, London Health Sciences Centre cares for the most medically complex patients including critically injured adults and children in southwestern Ontario and beyond. The hospital’s nearly 15,000 staff, physicians, students and volunteers provide care for more than one million patient visits a year. For more information visit www.lhsc.on.ca
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For media inquiries contact:
Marek Kubow
Corporate Communications and Public Relations
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500, ext. 75155
marek.kubow@lhsc.on.ca
For photo opportunity or for interview with Bertille, please contact her
daughter Julie Thebeau at 506 381-0162 or via email at
julie.thebeau@horizonnb.ca.
After-hours assistance:
Call LHSC Switchboard at 519-685-8500 and ask to page the communication consultant on-call
