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Young Tessa Williams is alive today thanks to a double miracle. The 15-year-old from Black Creek north of Courtenay has a rare form of liver cancer — only 200 people worldwide are diagnosed with the disease each year.

Her first miracle occurred at Vancouver General Hospital two weeks ago, after a liver transplant she received failed almost immediately. The teen was placed in a medically induced coma and her future looked bleak. But a second transplant, just 24 hours later, appears to have succeeded. Her family and doctors are cautiously optimistic.

The second miracle is that another liver was available at immediate notice. A few years ago, such good fortune would have been nearly unthinkable.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ used to have one of the worst records in sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ — indeed in the western world — for making organ transplants available. In 2010, our deceased-donor rate was 7.2 per million people. Meanwhile the national rate was about 15 per million, and numerous countries were in the 25 to 35 range.

But by last year, sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s rate had jumped to 20 per million — well above the Canadian average.

That meant 76 livers were available for transplant in 2015, compared to only 46 a few years ago. It was this remarkable surge that saved Tessa’s life. And like many other miracles, a lot of hard work went into producing it.

One of the infuriating paradoxes in transplant medicine is the vast gap between the number of people who sign up as donors and the tiny few whose organs are actually used. There are 968,156 people on the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Transplant donor registry. Less than one per cent will see their wish fulfilled.

Part of the problem is family resistance. Loved ones often cannot face such a difficult choice with only hours to decide. Legally speaking, that shouldn’t count. A donor card is an official document — the equivalent of a will; hospitals are entitled to honour it.

However, legality and compassion are two different things, and if the family objects, the matter is let slip.

Part of the problem is clinical. All manner of medical conditions, including some cancers, make a person ineligible, despite their desire.

And one reason sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ lags much of the world is that our roads are, in general, safer. Ghoulish as it is, fewer fatalities mean fewer organs available.

But there is another factor, as well. When a patient dies in hospital or en route, there is a short period before tissues deteriorate beyond use. That interval can be extended with organ-preserving technology. But time is a relentless enemy.

So how was this challenge overcome? Partly by spreading the message.

While the surgery is done in Vancouver, the collecting of tissues occurs provincewide. Until recently, this might not have been a priority in some facilities. That is changing.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Transplant assigned donor co-ordinators to each region of the province: It is their job to build hospital support teams that will move quickly when an option arises to harvest an organ.

It also takes a major organizational effort to identify transplant candidates, bring them to Vancouver at the right moment and conduct what is often a complex procedure. Here, too, teamwork is the key to improving results. Critical-care groups at three hospitals in the Greater Vancouver area guide patients through the sometimes weeks-long process of surgery and recovery.

The improvements to date are only a start. Far too many British Columbians still die waiting for a transplant.

And here we can all play a part. Visit the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Organ Donor Registry at transplant.bc.ca and sign up today.