You're Going to Need a Transplant - Now What?

Stephen Gillis is an Associate Producer, Video & Digital Media, at EdTech/Digital Solutions in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. He has two loves, hockey and film. From his years as a child all the way through to today, both loves play a significant role in his life. Producing films and podcasts for UBC Faculty of Medicine undergraduate medical program, and coaching youth hockey players with Vancouver Minor Hockey. In 2018, he nearly lost his life. “I’ve lived with Crohn’s disease for many years and when I became really sick, I thought it was my Crohn’s acting up,” says Stephen. “It was a shock to find out I developed a rare form of kidney disease and lost over 90 per cent of my kidney function. A kidney transplant from a living donor was my only option.” Stephen needed a new kidney, but a matching donor can be incredibly challenging to find.

His team of players found out about his health issues and rallied behind their coach, making a video plea for a donor that went viral and became national headline news. This led to a magical discovery that Stephen had a living donor match, an old friend he hadn’t seen in 10 year, Michael Teigen. Stephen is now perfectly healthy, on the ice coaching, and on set producing films, all thanks to his donor.

Register your decision on becoming an organ donor today. One organ donor can save up to 8 lives! https://register.transplant.bc.ca/

Email:  stephen.gillis@ubc.ca