Living Kidney Donation Awareness Week organized by Galbaat Initiative

THE Galbaat Initiative, led by Reetinder Kaur, Project Director, UBC Kidney Transplant Research Program, and Dr. Jagbir Gill, Medical Director, Kidney Transplant Program at St. Paul’s Hospital, organized Living Kidney Donation Awareness Week in Surrey, proclaimed by the City of Surrey and running from September 13 to 19. The week’s highlight was a well-attended photo exhibit and storytelling event at the City Centre Library, bringing together living kidney donors, transplant recipients, medical experts and the community to raise awareness about living kidney donation.

Reetinder Kaur exhibited stories of more than 20 living kidney donors, kidney transplant recipients, and family caregivers, collected over the past few years. The exhibit stories have also been translated into Punjabi by her. Gill shared information on the living kidney donation process, barriers to living kidney donation, and efforts underway to address them.

In British Columbia (BC), 262 patients received a kidney from a deceased donor and 85 from a living donor in 2025. 626 patients were on the kidney transplant waitlist in BC in 2025, and 21 patients died while waiting for a kidney transplant. Living kidney donation is a ray of hope for patients waiting for a transplant.

Deep Rai, a living donor transplant recipient, described how kidney failure struck at a difficult time — he was diagnosed with Stage 5 kidney failure at 34, while his wife was five months pregnant. He began home dialysis, spending eight to 10 hours on treatment, and his daughter was born during this period. As she grew, dialysis increasingly restricted his ability to care for her — once she passed about 10 pounds, he could no longer lift her. A family member donated a kidney, and within nine months of diagnosis, Rai received a transplant, allowing him to fully return to health and to his parental duties.

For his living kidney donor, Manni Samra, the decision was unplanned. After helping someone else find a donor, he asked himself, “What if I could be that person?” Nearly three years later, he calls it one of the most meaningful decisions of his life.

Narinder Badh donated a kidney to her husband almost 28 years ago, when all four of their children were under the age of seven. The living kidney donation let them raise their family together; she worked until retirement and now enjoys spending time with her two granddaughters.

Gurjit Pawar’s kidney disease journey began at 13. “It was a very hard time for my family, especially my parents, who had never heard of kidney disease before,” she said. She started dialysis at 23 and initially resisted living kidney donation, not wanting to burden anyone — until meeting other recipients and donors changed her mind. Her then boyfriend donated her a kidney through kidney paired donation program. They have now been married for 11 years and have two sons.

Through Living Kidney Donation Awareness Week, the Galbaat Initiative encouraged informed conversations about organ donation, living kidney donation and kidney transplantation within the community.