Simone Harty delivers popcorn to operating room staff at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Tuesday, Dec. 2. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

organ donors

‘It feels fantastic:’ organ transplant advocates show gratitude at Nanaimo hospital

Dec 3, 2025 | 5:28 AM

NANAIMO — Delivering salty treats to healthcare professionals would have been a monumental task for a Ladysmith woman prior to receiving a double lung transplant.

Andrea Gollmer, 41, joined two other BC Transplant volunteers at Nanaimo hospital on Tuesday, Dec. 2, to hand out popcorn to healthcare workers as part of the annual Operation Popcorn event at B.C. hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.

Lung disease progressed for Gollmer, who first got sick at the age of 23 while working outdoors in the province’s Kootenay region, eventually leading to a 2018 transplant at Vancouver General Hospital after medications stopped working properly.

Prior to receiving her transplant, Gollmer’s lungs deteriorated to the point where she struggled to get out of bed.

Once highly active playing several sports, hiking, swimming and snowboarding, Gollmer was reduced to a sedentary lifestyle during the months leading up to her life-changing surgery.

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“You lose pieces of yourself really slowly, you lose those things that you identify with; I never thought I was going to be able to do any of those things again, I felt like a different person. I would say it took about five years after my transplant to feel like my old self again.”

Gollmer required 24-hour-a-day reliance on an oxygen tank to breathe for over a year during the lead-up to her surgery.

“It gives you a really different perspective,” Gollmer told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Breathing is such an innate thing that everybody does, you don’t really think about it. When I was on oxygen, and I had a dog, and I had a toddler. I still had to do things.”

Gollmer personally thanked healthcare workers at several departments throughout Nanaimo hospital, telling emergency room personnel that putting on a pair of pants and showering would leave her out of breath.

Gollmer emphasized that her transplant will be a permanent health management issue.

She’s careful about minimizing illnesses to protect her immune system, while she deals with ongoing challenges from medications, including drugs which hamper her bones.

Despite ongoing barriers, Gollmer has persevered after a deceased donor gave her a new lease on life.

She attended the Canadian Transplant Games in Ottawa two summers ago, which showed Gollmer just how far she had come.

“To be surrounded by that many people that understand what you went through and have been through it themselves was really incredible and it caught me off guard how emotional it was to be completely honest.”

In addition to enjoying physical activities like swimming, badminton, and weightlifting, Gollmer said her mental health has increased dramatically.

“I haven’t been this social, and I haven’t been this active in about seventeen years, and it feels fantastic,” she said, noting COVID-19 restrictions delayed her return to a sense of normalcy.

Gollmer looks forward to spending another holiday season with her daughter, who happens to turn 11 on Christmas Day.

BC Transplant advocates showed their appreciation for medical personnel at several departments of Nanaimo hospital on Tuesday, Dec. 2 (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Mother of deceased organ donor
Simone Harty’s introduction to the province’s organ donor program was unexpected and incredibly heartbreaking.

At 17 years og age and nearing high school graduation, Harty’s only child died following a Burnaby motorcycle crash in June 2007.

“Had you interviewed me two years post-transplant, I probably would barely be able to breathe due to grief,” Harty said bluntly. “It’s the worst thing that ever happened to me, but time does allow you to live with the hole in your heart.”

While Harty did not have a conversation with Elliott prior to his death about organ donation, she’s adamant it’s what he would have wanted.

“Absolutely, he would have seen no point in something that was useful just being thrown away. Hopefully, its made a positive difference to people; I talk about him all the time.”

Elliott donated a kidney, liver and pancreas to the benefit of three different people.

Harty received a letter from her son’s kidney recipient.

She’s overjoyed to hear people like Gollmer can again live full, active lives after receiving new organs.

Harty hopes British Columbians who want to be an organ donor, but haven’t yet registered, do so.

“Apparently, 90 per cent of British Columbians support organ donation, but only one in three are registered. Let your wishes be known, if you support organ donation, then register.”

Cindy Bachman received a kidney transplant from her sister-in-law in 2008.

The 62-year-old Parksville resident, profiled by NanaimoNewsNOW at last year’s event, erupted in tears while addressing hospital workers on Tuesday.

According to BC Transplant, over 1.6 million British Columbians are registered to be organ donors, while nearly 600 people in the province are waiting for a transplant.

Organ donor registration is a quick and simple process that can be done through BC Transplant’s website linked here.

(L-R) Cindy Bachman, Simone Harty and Andrea Gollmer (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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