Record number of organ transplants recorded in 2025: B.C. Transplant

B.C. Transplant is encouraging more British Columbians to consider signing up to be organ donors after 2025 saw a record 575 people receive life-changing surgeries in the province. 

B.C. Transplant oversees organ donation and transplants across the province and has been recording organ transplants annually since it’s first kidney transplant in 1968.

These surgeries, B.C. Transplant said, were made possible because of the 232 people who donated, including 146 deceased individuals and 86 living donors, such as for kidney and liver transplants.

“Every deceased donor is a tragedy,” said provincial medical director of donation services, Dr. Sean Keenan, “the fact that the families in that time are willing to consider this is just, you know, incredible.”

There is no specific reason behind the high number of surgeries performed last year, Keenan said, explaining the donors they had were able to provide more organs and that organs are also transferred between provinces for patients.

“It’s in many ways … hard work by everybody involved and … I think year-to-year variation,” he said.

Keenan said it’s very rare for people to become donors because they need to be on life support, and majority of people who do, have not registered a decision. 

“Those that do, it’s much easier for family and loved ones to proceed on their behalf,” he said.

He said anyone can register to be a donor, regardless of the medical or health conditions they may have, because multiple tests are done to ensure organs are safe for transplant and it also provides hope to all those waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

A new lease on life

Kelowna, B.C., resident Troy Chapman still remembers the call he got on Oct. 4, 2025, when he was told he was finally going to have a kidney transplant that day. 

Chapman said he had been on the waitlist since May, after experiencing heart failure connected to diabetes, and was on dialysis for two-and-half years. 

“It was surreal, right, it was like, ‘oh my God, it’s actually happening,'” Chapman said after his brother drove him to Vancouver for the procedure that day.

Now Chapman said he doesn’t get sick anymore, has energy again, and is trying to get back to living a normal life. 

“I got a new lease on life,” Chapman said, “somebody’s tragedy is… is my gift of life.”

Beau’s amazing gift

Debbie Wargovcsik said her son Beau was 23-years-old when he told his father he wanted to be an organ donor. It happened one day when they were out for a drive together.

“Not really thinking it would ever come to be in our lifetime because he was 23,” she said. “We weren’t expecting the events that happened to happen.”

Wargovcsik said Beau had a seizure at his home in late April and was then in a coma for several days. 

When she and her husband were told Beau would not be coming out of the coma, the next step would be taking him off life support, and she said they were asked if they thought about organ donation.

“I didn’t know at the time though, but Brian said ‘yeah, that they had talked about it and Beau said he’d like to be an organ donor,'” Wargovsik said, “I was surprised and I was, you know, I guess glad that Beau had made that decision for us.”

“I feel very, very proud of Beau,” she said, “that’s a pretty amazing gift to give anybody.”