'We're the forgotten ones': B.C. premier to meet with woman who took herself off transplant list due to costs

B.C.'s premier has agreed to meet with a Princeton woman who says she had to fundraise to pay for life-saving transplant surgery in Vancouver that she desperately needs.

Christina Derksen-Unrau said when she first learned she was a candidate for a double lung transplant, she didn’t know the financial cost the surgery would carry.

“Twenty-six days before I was set to meet with the transplant team doctor, I was told I had to come up with $20,000,” she said.

That money, she learned, would be needed to cover accommodation and living expenses for three to six months in Vancouver post-surgery. Without it, she wouldn’t be put on the transplant list.

“It’s like somebody just pulled the bottom out of our world,” she said.

Derksen-Unrau, who has asthma, emphysema and lung cancer, learned from other organ recipients that the costs can sometimes be even higher. She said she had no choice but to temporarily take herself off the transplant list and start an online fundraiser.

Her financial predicament is not isolated.

Courtenay’s William Hastings was flown to Vancouver General Hospital 10 days ago because he also needs a double lung transplant.

“I’m so sick, I can’t leave here,” he explained.

While incredibly grateful to his medical team, Hastings’ illness means he can no longer work and he’s worried about the costs of living in Vancouver. His wife has come over to be with him and he will spend months in the city post-surgery.

“We have some money from saving and working. Beg borrow plead. I don’t know. What do you gotta do? Sell the house? Who knows? Don’t know what the future is,” Hastings said.

“We’re a big province. Anyone who has to travel rural, it’s a huge, financial, stressful burden,” he added. “There are some programs out here, (but) not enough."

Paul Adams is with the B.C. Rural Health Network and said changes are needed to a system that’s been broken for many years.

“We’re putting this burden on somebody that’s already facing life-altering care. So we need as a society to pick up the tab,” he said. “I unfortunately hear these stories continually and I’ve spoken to people in the past who are no longer with us because they couldn’t afford treatment in a longer system."

Kelowna senior Linda Morris received a double lung transplant last October.

“I’m doing really, really well,” she said. “It truly was a miracle that saved my life.”

She had to pull money out of retirement savings to cover the costs of staying in Vancouver after her operation.

“I was very, very fortunate, blessed that I had the funds to be able to do that,” she said. “We were down there three and a half months. And just the accommodation was more than $15,000."

Morris said she understands the anxiety other transplant patients, like Derksen-Unrau, are feeling.

“I can only imagine how horrible it is for her. Because the fact that you’re so sick and money is what’s stopping you from getting a life-saving surgery, it’s just wrong,” Morris said.

“I’m disgusted with how we’re treated. It’s like we’re the forgotten ones,” said Derksen-Unrau.

She had been trying for weeks to speak with Premier David Eby, so CTV News asked the premier if he intended to meet with her. He said he would.

“I look forward to meeting with her to talk with her about suggestions she has about her particular health journey and things we can do to make her life easier,” the premier told CTV News.

Derksen-Unrau was overwhelmed with emotion at learning Eby would speak with her.

“That is wonderful. Thank you so much,” she said as she fought back tears. “That’s one of the people that needs to pay attention to this, because it’s happening in his backyard."

So far, her GoFundMe page has raised more than $25,000 for her post-surgery expenses. She has to do some tests and hopes to be back on the organ transplant list within weeks.