7/11/25
Blame Facebook. I was scrolling a couple weeks ago, and saw KOLO 8 shared a story about a baby who needed a liver.
A baby in Virginia needs saving
Rhett Powell, who just turned 1 on June 13th, has a rare genetic disorder that’s killing his liver. He needs a transplant from the perfect donor match to survive.
Reading this little man’s story, I thought to myself, “what if I’m the only one who could match?”
Of course, I know I’m likely not the guy with the golden liver. Having already chopped a kidney out for someone else, I don’t even know if I’d pass the screening to be eligible. But what would it feel like to read that this baby died, unable to find the match, if I didn’t at least put my name in the hat?
I reached out to the transplant center and gave them my info. Being one of the first to do so, I got in ahead of the rest of the nation who read this story, and wanted to help. The mom and the hospital were overwhelmed by responses within the first day! How awesome is that!?
I assumed the transplant center would immediately turn me down, being a kidney donor. But you know what the boomers say about what happens when we assume…
I’ve gone through 2 rounds of over the phone screening so far. Now I’m waiting to hear back after mailing them back a packet of paper they had me fill out. I don’t think I’ll make the “cut” with my surgical history, combined with the tidal wave of good Samaritans. I’m ready to get cut if all those planets align, though.
Doing a quick Google search, I see that there are approximately 13,000 people out there on the list, waiting for a deceased or living donor. Of those, 1,500 are expected to die waiting.
I’ve watched the surgery videos and read up on the operation. They open you up like a frog in a 1980’s biology class. Recovery time is longer than that of kidney donation. While the liver does actually grow back, I read it is a very painful process. Remembering how much I hurt after nephrectomy, I admit it’s a scary thought.
Whether it’s my liver, or [more likely] someone else’s, I’m very happy to see this kid is covered. If I don’t get picked, I’m not looking to seek out another person in need of a liver. Rhett’s story just happened to hit my timeline and touch my heart at the right time, and I went for it. I can’t really explain why.
I guess we’ll see where this goes.
