Earlier this year, Emile Therien's daughter Sarah Beth ushered a new era of organ donation in Canada when she became the nation's first organ donor after cardiac death. Says Emile, "She was a generous, compassionate, beautiful human being and she’d been very clear that if she were gone, she would want someone else to live."

Emile and Sarah Beth's Story

Emile and Beth Therien wanted to honor their 32-year old daughter’s wishes to become an organ donor after a sudden illness hospitalized her and placed her on life support. It was after the family made the decision to withdraw life support on June 17, 2006, that they approached the healthcare team with Sarah Beth’s wishes to become an organ donor. Sarah Beth Therien ushered in a new era when she became the first organ donor after cardiac death in Canada.

“Sarah Beth wanted to be an organ donor,” says Emile. “We had talked about it only days earlier in a completely unrelated way. She was a generous, compassionate, beautiful human being and she’d been very clear that if she were gone, she would want someone else to live. We had to make this happen.”

Up to that point, individuals who died from cardiac death in Canada were considered potential tissue donors only. Organ donation was possible only if a patient were declared brain dead. Although Sarah Beth did not meet this criterion, her family was determined to fulfill her wishes. The Theriens and their son Christopher inquired about and pushed for other options for organ donation.

Their efforts brought about a conversation with a Trillium Gift of Life Network coordinator at The Ottawa Hospital who had received training on donation after cardiac death (DCD). The coordinator approached the healthcare team and hospital administrators to assist this family in fulfilling their donation wishes.

A team was quickly mobilized, and Sarah Beth’s kidneys were recovered and successfully transplanted to save the lives of two individuals. Through their determination and passion, the Therien family has forever changed organ donation in Canada.

Emile and Beth have committed themselves to increasing awareness about organ donation and to encourage hospitals to provide the option of donation after cardiac death to more families so that they, too, can give the gift of life to others.