Ottawa Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk could receive an urgently needed liver transplant within the week, according to a member of his medical team.
On Saturday, Dr. Atul Humar,one of Melnyk’s doctors in Toronto, told CTV News doctors are now screening potential donors.
“If it looks as if the donor is suitable, then we call the donor, we request a number of preliminary tests, and based on those we'll do a more extensive assessment, that includes CT scans, MRIs, blood tests, and so on and so forth,” Dr. Humar said. “If that all looks good, we'll also do a careful psycho-social assessment.”
Humar said if a positive match is found and given the green light for surgery, they are hopeful Melnyk could undergo a liver transplant towards the end of the week.
The Ottawa Senators confirm so far, more than 500 donor applications have been received by the University Health Network’s (UHN) Donor Assessment Team.
More than 12 candidates have been selected to go through the screening process so far, and that will continue until a match is found.
Two days after the Ottawa Senators' opened up about Melnyk's desperate need for a live liver transplant, a transplant team in Toronto has received calls and emails from more than 2,000 potential donors.
A dedicated phone line, 613-599-0100, has been setup for potential donors. The line will be active until 5 p.m. Friday, May 15, 2015.
"The organization would like to pass along a big thank you from Mr. Melnyk, his family and the extended Senators family for your heartwarming response," the team said in a statement issued on Friday.
"Mr. Melnyk gives everyone a big thumbs-up for all your support and encouragement."
Melnyk is in hospital and is struggling with very serious liver disease. In a statement the team said Melnyk has been in hospital for three weeks, and is in "urgent need" of a live liver transplant.
The Senators and the Melnyk family are looking for any members of the public who may be interested in being a live liver donor.
Melnyk’s family has actively reached out to his close friends and broader family with the hope of identifying someone who could be a “live liver donor”. This process involves the removal of a portion of the living donor’s liver so it can be transplanted into the recipient patient.
The Senators organization and the Melnyk family are looking for any members of the public who may be interested in being a live liver donor. For more information on being a living liver donor you can access the University Health Network’s Liver Donor Manual at:
http://www.uhn.ca/MOT/PatientsFamilies/Clinics_Tests/Documents/LivingDonor_LiverDonorManual.pdf
For anyone interested in being tested to determine if they would be a suitable donor the following form needs to be completed:
The organization is asking anyone interested in donating to submit an application by end of day.
