"Dad, are you going to die?": BC family told to wait up to a year for a kidney

The mother of a BC family is putting out an impassioned plea for kidney donors after being told that her dying husband has to wait up to a year or longer to receive one.

Tiffani Warnick shared her husband Anthony Lynch’s story with Daily Hive, a heartbreaking reality that many BC residents likely face.

Outside of grappling with the health emergency, Warnick has to help guide her 9-year-old daughter Stephanie through this painful ordeal.

“Dad, are you going to die?” Stephanie asked.

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“My family is in crisis mode,” Warnick posted to Facebook.

Lynch is very sick. He is currently in kidney failure. Tragically, the situation became severe just before Christmas late last year, on December 23.

“He was in and out of the hospital during Christmas break,” Warnick said.

Since then, Lynch has had two emergency procedures to have a catheter placed in his stomach so he could start dialysis at home. Soon, he will need a blood transfusion.

Warnick says that Lynch can’t walk much and is very weak.

“He gets exhausted doing anything.”

Bedtime is early, between 7 and 8, and he’s lying down most of the day.

When Warnick learned that her daughter asked her husband if he was going to die, she said, “It really hit me.”

“She is so upset that she can’t do things with her dad. She is sad that he can’t see her skate and is devastated that her dad will miss another competition.”

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It feels like the situation is coming to a critical point.

“I’m feeling desperate now. We are in the worst of it.”

Warnick says that they NEED a kidney. However, the surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital said that the wait could be between six and 12 months or even longer.

“If we can find a donor sooner than later, then there isn’t a long wait like there will be with a deceased donor’s kidney.”

If you’d like to be a donor who could potentially save Anthony’s life, you can contact the Living Kidney Donor Program at 604-875-5182 or email [email protected]. You will need to say it’s for Anthony Lynch and his Transplant File is 24453.

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