Docteur Pierre Marsolais
Honorary president of the Canadian Transplant Games – Montreal

Doctor Marsolais co-authored the Quebecer protocol of organ donation after a cardiovascular fatality. He is an internist and intensivist at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur of Montréal since 1995. He also works as a hospital development and teaching consultant for Québec-Transplant since 2006. In 2007, he directed the documentary Donner la vie which shows testimonies from the families of donators.

«The organ donation cause is very dear to me. My profession allows me to get involved and support the families of donators from up close. I know the process between the donation and the transplant quite well.

Given the fact that I am not very involved with the organ recipients, it is my great pleasure, thanks to this endorsement by the Canadian Transplant Games, to be able to bridge the gap between the recipients and the donators. Greatly gathering events like this one unite people behind a common cause. Of course, it is important to sensitize the population to the blessings brought by organ and tissue sampling after death. However, this gathering also allows us to attract the attention of healthcare professionals, organ recipients and the population on what the donators’ families can go through.

The performances of the recipients are very impressive. They lived through the disease, the wait, the need and, strengthened by the second chance they were given by life, they achieve amazing sports feats. By their achievement, they are the best endorsement possible for organ donation. To see them acting on every plan, finding out that they honour the gift they received: it is a source of hope and nurturing for the donators’ families.

Thanks again to the Canadian Transplant Games, to the contestants and to the MC2 Expérience stratégique organization for featuring this noble cause.»

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Dr Bernard Cantin
Honorary president of the Canadian Transplant Games – Québec

Cardiologist and medical director for the cardiac transplant program in the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec

«Beyond promoting organ transplant, the Canadian Transplant Games show that the transplant patients are not weaker than anyone else. In this matter, the Games reflect the success of organ donation.

These occasions are often sources of discussions and I am glad to be able to bring my expertise to answer the people’s questions regarding transplant. Indeed, when the transplant patients’ sports achievements are presented in this light, questions of a medical nature materialize, for example, concerning the transplant patients’ survival or their medication. It is therefore essential, in order to promote donation, to stress the medical progress, thus breaking the vulnerable image that might be projected by transplant patients or banishing some fears related to organ transplants.

The Canadian Transplant Games have an important social span and I am proud that MC2 Expérience stratégique is the official organizer. This non-profit organization supports University-level students and graduates in their professional experience acquisition. They are entrusted with responsibilities and projects and put all of youth’s motivation in them. Therefore, the Canadian Transplant Games and MC2 Expérience stratégique work together efficiently and are both, in their own way, propelled by their hope for the future.

This remarkable competition is an invitation to the Canadian population to sign their organ donation authorization, but even more so to talk about it with their family. The right moments to confirm with our relations our agreement to the donation of our organs are scant. Many families, facing a situation where they do not know the will of the deceased, choose to oppose the intervention, whether the card is signed or not.

This is why I invite everyone to celebrate organ donations in Québec City in 2010 and take advantage of this opportunity to discuss it with their family.»