Big red boxes of popcorn made their way to staff at Vernon Jubilee Hospital recently, as a thank-you to those who help make life-saving organ transplants possible.
Double lung recipient Judy Mori is in full health now, four-and-a-half years after her operation, and was happy to be a part of Operation Popcorn, a BC Transplant initiative in its 32nd year that shows appreciation to healthcare professionals working in organ donation with a gift of popcorn and a rare chance to meet the organ recipients whose lives were once in the hands of healthcare teams.
“(The hospital staff) said repeatedly that they rarely get to see the other end of it, so they were quite happy to see that I was doing well,” Mori said.
Three large boxes of popcorn were dropped off at the Vernon hospital Dec. 8, one for the intensive care unit (ICU), one to the operation room and one to the emergency department.
Being an organ recipient is a big deal, says Mori. It involves an extended stay in the ICU, a surgery up to 10 hours long, and many healthcare professionals are involved.
It took Mori six months after her operation to feel “halfway normal,” and a full year to be back to her normal self, but overall her procedure has been a resounding success.
“I’ve really had no problems,” she said. “It was a perfect match I got apparently, which I don’t think happens very often.”
Karly Marsden, organ donation coordinator for Interior Health, was at the Operation Popcorn gift-giving event at Vernon Jubilee Hospital.
“I just think this is such an amazing way to come in and thank the healthcare staff, because like Judy was saying, (healthcare professionals) only really see the tragic side,” Marsden said. “It’s nice for them to see people like Judy come in who is living proof that organ donation is a beautiful gift.”
More than 80 volunteers were involved in this year’s Operation Popcorn, among them organ recipients, living donors and donor families. Together they visited 30 hospitals and delivered more than 120 packages of popcorn to hospital staff.
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