2026-02-26 from thewalrus.ca

My sister Shauna was listed for a liver transplant, the only potentially curative treatment for her end-stage liver disease, in 2003. All along, I believed that she was going to receive a successful transplant and be able to start a new life. I was attuned to the stories of those fortunate recipients who were able to get one and thrive, and I believed my sister would belong to that cast of heroes and survivors.

But during her eighteen-month wait for the “gift of life,” her health precipitously declined, and she died in an intensive care unit. Redemption was out of reach for her. 

Read more here