Princeton woman in need of a transplant is driving health care inequality in Victoria

A Princeton woman desperate for a double lung transplant is bringing change to the county despite her failing health.

Chris Unrau made headlines last month when she reached out to the media and was rewarded when a Penticton benefactor came forward and promised to pay all her associated medical bills following a transplant surgery, when it becomes available.

But she doesn’t stop there.

Unrau and her husband traveled to Victoria earlier this month with Paul Adams of the BC Rural Health Network (BCRHN) and local MLA Roly Russell to explain how residents outside Vancouver are discriminated against when it comes to organ transplants.

They were greeted and recognized in the legislature and met with Prime Minister David Eby.

“We had 100 percent support from every MLA,” she told Black Press in an interview.

About 150 organ transplants take place in the province every year. However, patients traveling from outside the Lower Mainland must find their own housing and finance their travel and living expenses for at least six months.

Initially, Unrau withdrew her request to be placed on a transplant list because she could not afford the minimum $20,000 deposit required to ensure she could stay in Vancouver after the surgery.

“Christina has done her part in bringing this issue to light,” said Paul Adams, president of the BCRHN.

Unrau felt overwhelmed, but held on.

Her meeting with Eby was comfortable.

“He was very welcoming and very interested, and he was shocked by some of the things I told him,” she said.

“We were in deep conversation. He was very attentive and he was very compassionate. I met a very nice man who cares.’

Recovering from the journey to the coast took Unrau five days of pain and exhaustion.

Adams recognized that sacrifice.

“Thanks to her strength and ability, Christina truly represented many invisible people who are not heard.”

Adams said the BCRHN will continue to pursue policy change for rural healthcare patients.

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