MONTREAL - A 15-year-old boy is waiting for a second chance at life at the Montreal Children's hospital.
Vincent Lambert's heart stopped last fall, and doctors hooked him up temporarily to a mechanical heart. But it's a short-term solution.
The hardest thing, he says, is to be away from my family and friends.
As Canada marks national organ and tissue donor week, Transplant Quebec is urging everyone to consider organ donation. In the last five years, more than 2,000 Quebecers received transplants.
Until Vincent gets a transplant, he has to stay in the hospital, hooked up to an artificial heart.
He was admitted last September with multiple organ failure and doctors say he was sick as you can be while still being alive
An artificial heart like Vincent's doesn't have an expiry date.
Other kids have lived up to a year on the same machines. But his quality of life has been compromised, confined to a few floors of the hospital for more than 7 months with multiple medical tests per day.
"So long as he is dependent on his mechanical heart, he can't leave," Dr. Samara Zavalkoff, Montreal Children's hospital.
Asked what he'll do when he gets out of the hospital, Vincent replied: spend time with his dog.
The Montreal Children's Hospital has started a Twitter campaign to increase awareness about Vincent's story and about organ donation in Quebec.
They are asking people to help trend #AHeart4Vincent on Twitter or visit www.childrenfoundation.com
