'We take it as our life's task': Five years after Humboldt Bus Crash family continues to promote Organ donation

Green Shirt Day campaign carries on WATCH: The family of a teen who died in the Humboldt bus crash have made it their mission to get more organ donations.

Every year Toby and Bernadine Boulet continue to spread the message of organ donation and registry after their son Logan Boulet died in the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

“We’ve spoken over 100 times in front of people. We've interviewed around 200 times. We've been from Pittsburgh to Vancouver, to Saskatoon to Ottawa to Calgary, Swift Current, Regina to Winnipeg,” said Toby Boulet.

“It certainly is a legacy, and I guess that makes it a little bit easier, our journey that we've had taken over these last five years,” said Bernadine Boulet.

Logan was a registered organ donor, and after he was killed in the bus crash his parents decided to donate his organs – saving six lives.

In the weeks following the crash, 150,000 Canadians registered to become organ donors creating what would be called – the Logan Boulet Effect.

That movement gave hope to people like Brandy Hehn from Regina who needed a liver transplant in 2009. She was then on dialysis starting in 2016 and in need of a kidney.

“It gave me hope”, she said. “When Logan passed and we learned that he was a donor and his family kept talking about it. It was just like, somebody was standing up for us.”

She received a kidney transplant in October 2020 after being on dialysis since 2016. Hehn designed this year’s t-shirt for Green Shirt Day, a day that promotes organ donation across the country.

“I haven't been back at dialysis since, and it's been a heck of a dream because dialysis is zero, zero, zero fun.”

According to Canadian Blood Services, the Logan Boulet Effect has had a “considerable impact” on organ donation across the country.

“As of Dec. 31, 2022, about one-third of Canadians have registered their intent to donate their organs or tissues after death,” said a spokesperson for the organization.

In Saskatchewan, the province launched The Government of Saskatchewan Organ and Tissue Donation (OTD) Registry on September 3, 2020. As of April 1, 2023, residents have registered and joined the donor list.

In 2022, the Province launched an online provincial awareness campaign that promoted an online registry with the messaging: 'Be a donor, Save a life.'

The campaign resulted in a total of 1,402 organ donation registrations. A 570 per cent increase in registrations from March to April while the campaign was running.

As of December 31, 2022, 499 people were living with a kidney transplant in Saskatchewan. Currently, there are 50 people on the waitlist for a kidney transplant.

Saskatchewan only provides kidney transplants while other organ transplant operations are fulfilled out of province. It’s that waitlist and travel that has the Boulets knowing their job isn’t done spreading the word about organ donation.

"Four thousand people on the waitlist every year in Canada to receive an organ transplant. About 250 passed away each year waiting. That number could be 201 this year 240, depending on the organs that are available," said Toby Boulet.

“We take it as our life's task right now to push people to have the conversation.”

April marks National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Month (NOTDAM) - an annual campaign, which encourages Canadians to consider becoming organ donors.

The Boulets have a goal to have 100,000 people register nationwide to become an organ donor by the end of the month.