Time and hope are running out for Lyndsay Richholt.
Last spring, the Kelowna, B.C., woman was given six months to live without a liver transplant.
Global News first interviewed the 43-year-old mother in November 2025 as she continued waiting for a surgery, one she said she wasn’t being prioritized for because the MELD (Model For End-Stage Liver Disease) scoring system doesn’t properly rank patients with autoimmune hepatitis patients like her, compared to other liver diseases.
B.C. Transplant reached out several days later with a Dec. 10 surgery date.
The joy, however, turned to anguish just days ahead of the scheduled transplant when it was unexpectedly cancelled.
“It was absolutely devastating and heartbreaking, ” Richholt said over the phone.
Since then, Richholt’s health has deteriorated significantly.
“Things continue just to decline and progress each week, each month,” Richholt said.
Despite taking a turn for the worse, she can’t get any answers from B.C. Transplant.
“B.C. Transplant is not communicating with a patient who’s dying from disease and is very sick and just letting me know where things are at,” an emotional Richholt said. “I can’t even get that simple acknowledgment.”
Richholt said the last time she received communication from B.C. Transplant was on Dec. 8.
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She said the agency told her it hoped to have another surgery date for her soon and that it had tested another donor and had backup ones as well.
Despite numerous attempts to get an update since then, Richholt said B.C. Transplant has gone silent.
“It just doesn’t feel humane, just tell her something, anything,” said Kristina Loewen, Conservative MLA for Kelowna Centre.
Loewen has been advocating for Richholt but said she too isn’t getting any answers.
“They’re not answering my email. They’re not answering the doctor’s email. They’re not getting back to Lindsay,” Loewen said.
In an email to Global News, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), which delivers the provincial liver transplant program and in this case speaks on behalf of B.C. Transplant, stated, “the liver transplant program maintains regular contact with all patients awaiting transplant as well as potential living organ donors.”
It went on to say, “the donor evaluation process step typically takes a minimum of three months but may vary (shorter or longer) depending on individual circumstances.”
It also added, “the intended recipient will only be notified once a surgery date has been confirmed.”
“We need transparency. We need accountability,” Loewen said. “We need to know where we are at in the queue so that we can go and make other choices if we have to or if they’re available to us.”
Richholt said she worries her window of opportunity for a transplant may soon close.
“I’m at risk of getting to the point of being too sick for a transplant,” Richholt said.
She said she also fears the process may end up costing her her life.
“We’re very scared, we’re nervous, we feel very hopeless, and we don’t know what to do,” Richholt said.
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Kelowna woman fears lengthy wait for a liver transplant may cost her her life
