A match made at St. Joe’s: Brian’s and Allison’s kidney transplant story
When Brian Cooke’s niece, Allison Cooke, approached him about donating a kidney, the retired police officer who plays competitive hockey thought he was too old.
“Allison had been waiting for two years for a transplant and there was no match,” says Cooke, a Hamilton resident. “I was 64 when she asked me, but I didn’t know if I could do it.”
After talking it over with his wife and daughter, Brian completed a medical evaluation to determine his eligibility as a donor.
“It’s important to have that conversation,” he explains. “If something came up and my daughter needed my kidney, I wouldn’t be able to donate. You have to feel at peace with the decision.”
A near-perfect match
Brian, who is Allison’s father’s twin and in good physical health owing to an active lifestyle both on and off the ice, learned through St. Joe’s Living Kidney Donor Program that he was a near-perfect organ match for his niece. This news changed the course of both their lives.
“Around this time, both of Allison’s kidneys were nearly shut down, and she was on dialysis 24/7 at home,” Brian says, adding his niece was diagnosed with diabetes as a toddler and had health issues ever since.
“I thought, there’s a reason we have two kidneys. I can live with one kidney and give life to someone else.”
To commit to the transplant, however, Brian had one small condition.
“I told Allison if I gave her my kidney she would have to like the Toronto Maple Leafs,” he laughs.
Giving the gift of life
After consulting with a team of St. Joe’s experts and undergoing a number of tests, including bloodwork, X-rays, and ultrasounds, the transplant was scheduled for October 2016.
“That’s when things didn’t go to plan,” Brian says. “I was prepped and ready in the operating room when my niece went into heart arrythmia because of kidney failure, and the operation was postponed.”
In December, however, Allison was well enough for the operation to proceed, and she received her uncle’s left kidney.
Brian spent two days in hospital before going home, and Allison was doing so well with her new kidney she was released Christmas Day.
“It was a Christmas miracle,” Brian says.
A new lease on life
The change in Allison’s life has also been “miraculous,” Brian says. After receiving his kidney, and a pancreas in 2018, Allison was no longer fixed to a dialysis machine and full roster of medical appointments.
“I always felt like I was on somebody else’s schedule instead of my own,” says Allison, 44, who lives in Burlington. “I’m an independent person and, with my health the way it was, I couldn’t be.”
Despite challenges finding the right anti-rejection medication to support her new organs, Allison lives a full life free of diabetes.
With her new lease on life, she has returned to school to pursue a paralegal career.
“It was the last thing on my bucket list to achieve, and I’m glad I had the chance to do it,” she says.
Giving back to the program
Today, Brian has fully recovered from the transplant surgery and remains in good health.
He shares the pair’s story to encourage others to consider organ donation, and to enhance the living donor program at St. Joe’s.
Through his role on the Renal Patient Family Advisory Council, Brian supported the development of the hospital’s one-day donor clinic, which allows four donors per clinic to complete the majority of their medical evaluations in one hospital visit.
“The hospital is listening to patients and families to make changes so that recipients don’t have to wait so long for a transplant,” he says.
Brian also volunteers as a Transplant Ambassador, a role that allows him to share his experience with transplant patients, while answering their questions about the process.
Asked what he would say to those considering living organ donation, Brian answers, “To give that gift of life is very rewarding, and the setbacks you may have are only for a short period of time. Three months after the surgery, I was back to playing hockey again.”