Northern Sask. couple gives new meaning to 'perfect match' with kidney donation

A northern couple who have been together for a decade were happy to learn they were the perfect match for kidney donation.

Crystal Morin-Marinuk and her husband Darwin Morin have been together for 10 years. They have been dealing with trials and tribulations around Darwin's health since the beginning.

"When we first started dating, he had already been suffering from some of the effects of kidney disease, as his kidneys were starting to fail," Crystal said.

Darwin, who is Type 1 diabetic from childhood, was in need of a kidney transplant.

"I noticed just a lot of deterioration with everything, with his strength, with the way he moved around and headaches," Crystal said.

As they waited years for a match with an eligible donor, she witnessed him becoming more and more sick.

"I started to think, 'We need to try and see if we have any family that might be a match.' Then I thought, 'I think I need to test as well,'" Crystal said.

She said she knew the chances of her being a match wasn't great, but they were desperate.

"I can't do this day-to-day and have that little thought at the back of my mind," Crystal remembers thinking. "What if, just what if, there's a chance that we match?"

They took a crossmatch test, which determines whether two people are compatible for donation.

After waiting weeks for the results, they received the biggest news of their lives. They were a match.

"They just said, 'Do you know this person? Are you related?' And I'm like, 'No, this isn't … this is my partner, this is my, this is my fiancé."

She said she heard nurses in the background cheering for them.

"I started crying," she said. "I had all this news and no one to tell. It was quite an emotional roller-coaster." 

When her fiancé got home they celebrated the news. She said he was in disbelief.

"I said, I have something to tell you. And he's like, 'We're not a match.' I was like, 'No, we are a match.' And he's like, 'Please don't lie.'"

She said talking about it still brings tears to her eyes.

From there, the couple prepared for the transplant. Everything went smoothly, from recovery all the way to marriage. The couple will now celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary in July.

Medical transportation for northern residents

With Darwin's transplant complete, the couple now run a medical transportation company to drive other northern people from La Ronge to Saskatoon for dialysis or other medical appointments.

"In the north there is no access to a dialysis unit," Crystal said.

According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) website, about 50 to 60 people in Saskatchewan are currently waiting for a kidney transplant.

The average wait for a kidney is 2.8 years, which means an average of 437 dialysis treatments per person as they wait, SHA says.

"The length of time a patient may wait for a transplant depends on many things: patient health and wellness, time out of country, blood time, sensitization to name a few," SHA says.

Crystal said they have four regulars who have appointments three times a week.

The drive from La Ronge to Saskatoon is about four hours and many need to make stops along the way. The dialysis appointments can take another four hours. That means 12 to 13 hours away from home.

Crystal said it's hard on the patients, but it's their only option.

"Darwin and I have got to know these people so well they become part of the family," she said.

"We're with them so much of the time, so we really experience and hear what they're going through."

She said it can be really hard at times, because they have lost some of the people they transport who they grow close to and have considered friends, who weren't as lucky to receive a kidney transplant.

"We plan to do this for a long time," she said. "It is a very strenuous job, it's a lot of work driving. But until there is a dialysis centre set up for the north, this is the only option that there is right now for these individuals."