Giving an organ of you to save one’s life is really amazing and it’s a great happiness that you can have in your life.
In last year April, The eight-year-old Brayden was diagnosed with an aggressive virus that attacked his liver. His parents Ruth and James Auten were devastated with the news.
The small boy had just finished fighting in the state wrestling championship. He was urgently needed a liver transplant. His parents tried a lot to find a donor, but unfortunately they couldn’t.
An ICU nurse in Milwaukee, Camie Loritz tried to help the little boy and she was the perfect match for him.
When the surgeries took place on May 15, Loritz stayed anonymous. The hospital wanted to meet each other and they organized a meeting for it. They all embraced each other with lots of happiness.
Brayden’s father wrote:
“She has given up time and went through pain to make sure that my son has a chance to walk by my side again and be able to live and thrive like a regular 7yr old boy. So thank you Cami Loritz I will never be able to repay the gift that you have given my son and all of us!”
He also said that she did a selfless thing and saved his son’s life.
Ruth Auten, his mother said that Loritz is one of their own family members. In July, Brayden returned home from the hospital and now he is going school.
Loritz thanked everyone who supported her and the little hero, in September:
Loritz said, “Now that we are almost 4 months post-transplant it’s heartwarming seeing Brayden enjoy being a kid again, no argument he’s stinkin’ cute! I am beyond thankful his family gets the chance to have their little boy back and healthy.”
“With that said, both the Auten’s and I don’t want this happy ending to end here. … Living organ donation is a FEASIBLE concept to SAVE LIVES! On top of all the love and support we’ve received we’re asking for your help to educate the public and raise awareness about living organ donation.
Help us lessen the deficit between the number of organs needed and the number of organs available. … *Special shout out and thank you to the Transplant Team, Transplant ICU, and 4NW staff (especially nurses) at Froedtert Hospital for making this all possible!”
The liver has many important roles to play such as converting nutrients from foods into useful substances, absorbing toxins and converting them into harmless substances, and producing proteins as it is among the largest body organs.
It is really challenging to identify the liver problem at an early stage as liver viruses cause vague symptoms.
When the patient has a diseased or failing liver you can do a liver transplant. This surgery can take 6-8 hours. The risks and the benefits of the surgery are carefully analyzed before a patient is waiting for an organ donor.
A person who is willing to donate a liver should posses some criteria such as to suffer from a severe, irreversible medical condition with short-term life expectancy, to be an active substance user, to have severe pulmonary hypertension, to suffer from a systemic or uncontrollable infection or cancer that spreads to other body parts.
Many liver donors have been declared brain dead, if their next of kin have agreed. A living person, a relative or a friend can donate a partial liver.
The donor can be also a complete stranger as Loritz who can save your family.