This April, during Organ Donation Awareness Month, BC Transplant is partnering with public libraries across British Columbia to help raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and transplantation. Twenty-seven libraries are taking part, with nine hosting BC Transplant volunteers – many of them transplant recipients – to share their stories and answer questions from the public.
At the Squamish Public Library, where Stephanie has worked for nearly two decades, the initiative feels especially close to home.
Stephanie’s father, Sukh Ram Nand, was diagnosed with diabetes in his mid-20s. Over time, complications from the disease led to chronic kidney failure. By his late 40s, he was reliant on dialysis, a demanding routine that required hours of treatment several times a week.
“Dialysis keeps you alive,” Stephanie says, “but it’s like a full-time job.”
Three times a week, for four to five hours at a time, her father travelled to dialysis clinics on the North Shore, commuting to the city from Squamish until room became available at the dialysis unit at Squamish General Hospital. He also completed the extensive testing required to be placed on the transplant waitlist.
Then, in July 2008, Stephanie received a call while she was at work, asking her to come home. A kidney had become available for her father at St. Paul’s Hospital.
“He packed his ‘go bag’,” she recalls. The recovery was quick, and the impact was immediate.
The transplant didn’t just improve his health, it gave him freedom.
Although his first kidney transplant functioned for five to six years, it allowed Stephanie’s father to step away from dialysis and return to the simple joys of daily life.
He no longer had to travel for treatment or adhere to strict dietary restrictions. He could drink water more freely, spend time gardening, drive his car, and enjoy life on his own terms. He even liked to joke, “I’ve got four kidneys!”
When that first transplanted kidney eventually began to fail, he returned to dialysis and was placed back on the waitlist. Thanks to his overall health and determination, he received a second kidney transplant in June 2015, at the age of 66.
“I had never seen my dad cry,” Stephanie says. “The only other time was when my grandfather passed away.”
When asked if he was nervous, her father had a simple answer: this was the best thing that could happen to him.
The second transplant gave him another decade of improved quality of life. While other health issues later limited his ability to travel back to Fiji, where he was born, he was able to visit family in California several times – something that would not have been possible without transplantation.
Stephanie's family on Christmas Eve, 2021
Stephanie’s father passed away on December 1, 2024, but the impact of those two donors lives on.
“They gave the most beautiful gift to our family,” she says. “A legacy that lived on in my dad for however long he was here. There are no words to truly thank someone for that kind of generosity.”
Today, Stephanie shares another connection to organ donation – she herself is on the kidney transplant waitlist. Like her father, she has lived with kidney disease for many years, managing home hemodialysis while continuing to work and stay active in her community.
Her experience has reinforced her belief in the power of sharing stories and creating space for meaningful conversations.
Stephanie has worked at the Squamish Public Library since 2008 and has been a library patron since she was five years old. In her current role, she creates youth and adult programming for people aged 12 to 99, with a growing focus on intergenerational connection.
“I really saw during the pandemic how important libraries are as social spaces,” she says. “People, especially seniors, would come in just to chat. Community and connection are so important for mental and physical health.”
That sense of connection is what makes libraries such a natural partner for Organ Donation Awareness Month.
Throughout April, the Squamish Public Library will feature a prominent organ donation display, curated booklists available online through QR codes, social media highlights, and plans for future programming tied to the topic.
“Organ donation is so important in this province,” Stephanie says. “You never know who around you might need a transplant one day.”
As someone whose family was touched twice by organ donation, Stephanie hopes the campaign encourages more people to learn, reflect, and register. “If you’re not registered as an organ donor, you should be,” she says. “It changes lives in ways you can’t fully imagine until you’re living it.”
By bringing organ donation into welcoming, everyday spaces like libraries, BC Transplant and its partners hope to start conversations that inform, inspire, and ultimately save lives.
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April is Organ Donation Awareness Month.
If you would like to partner with BC Transplant on community-focused initiatives to raise awareness for organ donation, please reach out to info@bctphsa.ca. It’s never too late to register as an organ donor, visit registeryourdecision.ca and share your decision with loved ones.
