TELUS team flies to the rescue

In February 2008, Robert McFarlane, executive vice-president and chief financial officer, was on the TELUS corporate plane flying from Calgary to Vancouver when a call from a long-time friend, Bill Barrable, provincial executive director of BC Transplant, was patched through. Mr. Barrable explained that a donor had passed away in the Okanagan. BC Transplant needed to fly a surgical team to recover the organs and then return them to Vancouver, where seven transplant recipients were waiting. Time was of the essence and the organization had not been able to find any planes.

Robert immediately asked pilots Mark Paterson and Paul Doucette if they would be willing to donate their time and they agreed. They landed the plane in Vancouver, boarded the surgical team and flew to the Okanagan. The plane and crew waited overnight until the surgeons had retrieved the organs and then flew back to Vancouver, where seven successful transplants were completed. This event not only saved lives, but allowed the donor's family to have their wish for organ donation to take place.