Last month, Lindsay Brochu was ready to finally receive new lungs. The 31-year-old woman from Almonte, Ont., was put on a waitlist for a Toronto transplant program on March 17.
She signed a form consenting that she’d be ready for a double-lung transplant as soon as one was available. “Emotionally and mentally, I was preparing for that,” she said. “It’s draining, you ensure you’re prepared when you sign that so you’re ready for this… I was ready to go.” Brochu moved in with her parents in Toronto and waited to be called in for the surgery.
Doctors told her it wouldn’t take more than a month. That same week, Ontario paused transplants that weren’t considered essential due to the COVID-19 outbreak.