For Moose Jaw Midget AAA Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber, living with Mucin-1 was an overwhelmingly exhausting experience.

But ultimately early in 2020, a kidney transplant greatly improved his quality of life.

Weisgerber's successful return from the transplant was the 14th top sports story of 2020. 

“My creatine was so high, and all the toxins in you, everything is blah,” he said. “You feel tired all the time. I didn’t get overly sick. There were spurts where you get a little sick or whatever. But I feel somewhat normal now, which is awful.”

He said it was such a long shot that he would get the call that a kidney was available, he had put it in the back of his mind and never thought it was a possibility.

“When you get it (the call), it’s just a shock,” he said. “You’re scared and emotional and everything. I was super fortunate that I was a match with the gentleman. It’s not good he was a younger guy and he ended up passing away, but he was an organ donor and I’m grateful and fortunate I ended up getting that.”

For the last couple of years, Weisgerber had bouts of exhaustion but kept going with a busy family and hockey life. Undergoing frequent dialysis treatments for the last couple of years, Weisgerber got the call that a donor’s kidney was available while he was volunteering at his daughter’s hockey game.

“My phone kept ringing from Saskatoon, and I finally ended up answering it,” Weisgerber said. “It was the doctor from Saskatoon, and he goes through a bunch of questions making sure that you’re healthy… Then, he just said that ‘We’ve got a kidney up here, you’ve got a match, and we need you up in Saskatoon as soon as possible.’”

He quickly packed and drove up there and medical staff performed tests.

“It was about a six-hour surgery and I don’t remember a whole bunch the first day,” he said. “The first three or four days are pretty rough. I mean, you’re pretty sore and you can’t really move. It was a rough go, but after day four things started getting better and they start taking things out of you like IVs and catheters and everything else that’s inside of you.”

He was in hospital for 10 days and then recovered at home for a few weeks. 

“It’s incredible how much better I feel already,” he said. “I think I feel better… 16 days in than the last two years I’ve been on dialysis.”

Weisgerber described it as having “a new lease on life."

“I’m just looking forward to living a normal life here.”

He was also thankful for the Warriors organization and assistant coaches Carter Smith, Carter Davis and Evan Schwabe.

“It’s still a shock to everyone that you’re not around, so it makes things tough that way,” Weisgerber said. “But I’m in touch with the coaches pretty much every day, just by phone. I’m supposed to stay away here for the first couple of weeks and not be around big groups … just because my immune system is still down a little bit.”

The Warriors ended up going 6-0 in the SMAAAHL playoffs after his return, and would have skated in the league final had the pandemic not wiped out the season.