Their first steps took place on Canada Day 2020, and the team journeyed a combined total of 8000 kms, which brought them virtually from St. John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, BC. Each runner logged their distance, from 1km walks around the block up to a single 50km run for one member.
Thanking donors and health partners across Canada
What started as a way to keep up morale and stay fit turned into something more. Along the way, the team gave thought to the donors from almost every province in Canada whose organs have been transplanted to patients in the VGH transplant program.
The team also finished their run on Green Shirt Day, April 7, 2021, a day that recognizes the incredible gifts of life of organ donors.
As they made their way across the country, the team also recognized the health partners across Canada that have contributed in multiple ways to the care of transplant patients at VGH.
"There is such great inter-provincial cooperation and support across the country for donation and transplant," says Dr. Chung, the liver transplant surgeon at VGH who initially brought the running team together. "It's wonderful how people work together across Canada to support patients wherever they are."
Working together for patients… and beyond
Maiqui Chua, Patient Care Coordinator in the transplant unit and a member of the running team, viewed the run as a way to help focus through the pandemic on what matters most—their patients.
"In the grand scheme of things I continue to tell myself and our patients daily (and with each run) that there is hope and things will get better," says Chua. "Just like running - we'll eventually reach the finish line to this challenging period of our lives."
Congratulations to all the members of the team on their achievement, both for making your way across country and for the work you do each and every day in providing essential and life-saving care to transplant recipients.
The team was made up of a spectrum of people involved in the continuum of transplant care in the VGH program.
- Dr. Alex Lee – thoracic surgeon (lungs)
- Annalise Mason – lung transplant coordinator
- Gail Cartwright – operating room nurse and organ recovery assistant
- Jessica Hodge – physiotherapist
- Maiqui Chua – patient care coordinator
- Dr. Maja Segedi – liver transplant surgeon
- Shelagh Alam – transplant dietician
- Dr. Stephen Chung – liver transplant surgeon
- Terri Harapnuk – social worker
- Dr. Vladimir Marquez – transplant hepatologist (liver)
