The organ donors in NL are rare, and this advocate wants to see legislative changes to fix the problem

Jonathan Hikman talked about the kidney, which his sister gave him every chance.

“I believe it is important to educate people about organ donation. You can change someone’s life,” he said.

Hikman says that without her sister’s generosity, there is a lot that she must have remembered.

He said, “I have two children and I have seen them growing up to work in our family business from high school to university and this is all because my sister has made that selfless step to offer her kidney,” he said.

Hikman began his life with damaged kidney and knew that a life-transplant transplant was unavoidable.

He said, “I was born with reflux and my first operation was one day. At that time, I had done a lot of damage to my kidney. So we always knew that I needed a transplant,” he said.

The Canadian Institute for Health Institute reported that 1,929 people found a donated kidney in 2024 in Canada. The same year, 2,922 people were on a weightlist for a kidney, and 82 people were killed while waiting to get the kidney.

But Hikman is one of the lucky people.

“My mother, my brother and my sister were all matches, and in the end we joked about it and said that my sister attracted the little straw and now I have her kidney. Of course, she has changed my life,” she said.

According to Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, for the last four years, Newfoundland and Labrador have reduced the average of ten donors less than ten donors annually, and have reduced the number of living or deceased people in 2025.

As the Director of Newfoundland and Labrador for the Canadian Transplant Association, Hikman is working hard to increase that number. He says that it starts with awareness.

One can choose to become a donor in Newfoundland and Labrador, when they fill a medical care plan (MCP) application or renewal, they can indicate “intentions to donate”. Originally, selecting in the program.

Nova Scotia has seen an increase in its donors after adopting the “presumed consent” law for organ and tissue donations. Since 2021, each Nova Scotian is considered a donor unless they specifically state that they do not want to donate.

Hikman says that Newfoundland and Labrador should make the same change.

“My personal opinion, yes. I believe an opt-out program will help increase the number,” he said.

This change in spring, human organ and tissue donation act was introduced in the assembly house, but the house closed before arguing on those proposed changes.

This means that Health Minister Christa Lynn Howell cannot say whether the amendment would have seen this province following the leadership of Nova Scotia.

“So they will be interacted (to) when the paper collides with the floor, but of course we are recognizing that we want an uptake in the donors for those programs. It is always unfortunate when you hear about the individuals who did not have the opportunity to get a transplant or organ.

“We always want to continue to promote our organ donor program, recognizing the importance of those who require organ transplantation.”

It is not clear when the proposed changes of the government in the Human Angle and Tissue Donation Act will be adopted. If the bill is said to be debated before a provincial election, the order paper is cleaned and any proposed change will be re -introduced.

For Hikman, it is impossible to measure how much an organ donation means for him, and he is working hard to pass on his good fortune.

He said, “I am now going to Germany in August to compete in the World Transplant Games.”

“I have competed all over the world, all over Canada, Newfoundland and then transplant games in Canada to help promote the importance of organ donation, but more importantly, life after organ transplantation.”

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