CANADA AM "Be A Donor" Special Features First One-On-One Post-Op TV Interview with Organ Donor Champion Hélène Campbell, May 25 on CTV

- CanadaAM.ctv.ca hosts live-chat with living donors, donor families, recipients, and organ donation professionals taking questions throughout the broadcast -

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TORONTO, May 23, 2012 /CNW/ -  Canadian organ donor advocate and recent transplant recipient Hélène Campbell catapulted organ donation awareness into the international spotlight with endorsements by pop superstar and fellow Canadian Justin Bieber and talk show host Ellen Degeneres. This Friday, May 25 from 7 - 9 a.m. ET on CTV, CANADA AM devotes the morning to "Be A Donor", a two-hour special featuring the first post-surgery, one-on-one TV interview with Campbell. The 21-year-old Ottawa native, who underwent a double lung transplant last month, will speak to CANADA AM's Beverly Thomson about how she is doing since her dream of receiving a pair of new lungs became a reality.

As a complement to the television special, CanadaAM.ctv.ca hosts a live-chat on the latest organ transplant research and the ABCs of becoming a donor. CANADA AM also delivers a comprehensive list of online resources for those in need of a transplant, donors and their families. Viewers can follow @CTVCanadaAM for live tweets about the two-hour "Be A Donor" special. Viewers are encouraged to use the hash tag #BeADonor.

"With this special, we want to provide a forum for Canadians to continue the important dialogue about organ donation, which has recently made international headlines," said Lis Travers, Vice-President and Executive Producer, CANADA AM. "Hélène's inspiring story opens the door to more discussion on what's working, what are the challenges, and guidance on what people can do today to become a blood, tissue, or organ donor."

In addition to the first TV interview with Campbell since her surgery, CANADA AM will examine all aspects of organ donation in the special "Be A Donor" including:

• Life on the Waiting List: Garry Keller, who has maintained his job as Chief of Staff to Foreign Affairs minister John Baird while waiting for a kidney match. Keller talks about what it's like being on the waitlist for seven years.
  
  
• The Living Donor: Richard Ayuen donated 70 percent of his liver to his son Matthew
  
  
• Making the Decision: The Castillo family who chose to donate the organs of their 15-year-old son Manny who died in a sporting accident. Their decision saved five lives.
  
  
• The Recipient: Mississauga native, jazz singer and double lung transplant patient, Alex Pangman, who experienced what it's like to have new life after the gift of organ donation.
  
  
• Be A Donor: CANADA AM examines the process of organ donation and discusses the challenges of the system with Versha Prakash, the Vice-President of Operations for Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN), Ontario's organ and tissue donation and transplant agency.

CANADA AM is Canada's most-watched national morning newsmagazine. Since its launch in 1972, CANADA AM has brought Canadians a unique blend of hard news and lifestyle stories, featuring in-depth interviews with top newsmakers, celebrities and musical stars. Lis Travers is the Vice-President and Executive Producer for CANADA AM and Wendy Freeman is the President of CTV News.

CTV, Canada's Olympic Network, is also Canada's largest private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV is Canada's most-watched television network and lead broadcaster of the London 2012 Olympic Games.  CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio and digital. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company.  More information about CTV can be found on the network's website at www.ctv.ca.

Shannon Gallagher, Bell Media, 416.384.4623, [email protected]
Renee Dupuis, Bell Media, 416.384.3004, [email protected]