DONOR | Amanda's Story

Amanda Werkle

LIVING Liver DONOR NEEDED

"Hope" is the thing with feathers - 'That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops at all' Emily Dickinson

I'm Amanda! I'm a 39 year old, funny, outgoing, curious, strong and kind wife, daughter, sister, "Auntie", BFF, professional and more.
I LOVE my family, cooking, spending quality time with the people I love and learning more about people I don't know. Everyone has a story! I spend most of my time working my full-time job in technology but would love to own my own bagel shop one day when I'm much older!

I have been diagnosed with end-stage liver disease since January of 2023. It has impacted my health and day to day life dramatically. I am limited in physical activity, I can no longer travel or make plans to travel or to attend special occasions/celebrations with friends and family. My family and I have had to make many sacrifices.

A transplant would be life-altering. It would give me a new lease, a fresh start. I no longer take ANYTHING for granted; I see and believe in the beauty of the world and I want to continue to witness it. I dream of the future and the possibilities donation would potentially make real for me. I am anxious and scared - as I am only 39, there is still so much more I want to do and become and be and live and dream and experience in my life.

DON'T. Even if donation isn't for you or anything you're personally interested in, please DON'T stop there. Please help spread the word - please help communicate the need for me and all the others like me who are on a desperate search for what seems an impossible goal. The more people know and hear and learn about donation - the more likely we are to find matches for those in need, including myself. So, I beg you. Please DON'T stand idly by and assume someone else will step in. Talk to anyone, everyone, mention it wherever you go - this is all I ask - you never know just what will stick.
Thank you and even if I don't know you - I love you.

START YOUR JOURNEY

Become Amanda Werkle's Donor

If you are considering being a living donor please use links below to contact Amanda Werkle's Transplant Center. Begin by completing the donor questionnaire

Fill Out DONOR Questionnaire
(INQUIRES ARE 100% CONFIDENTIAL)

Becoming a Liver DONOR Find a Transplant Center near you

Yale New Haven Transplantation Center

333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06520

(866) 925-3897 Email Transplant Center

Did you know?

Medical expenses for living organ donors are 100% covered, and inquires from potential donors are 100% confidential! Contact the Transplant Center to learn more about living donation.

More Donor FAQs

Share the Importance of Living Donation

Liver transplantation has been a successful treatment and standard of care for end-stage liver disease since the early 1980s.

Technical advancements in liver surgery, as well as the liver's tremendous ability to regenerate, have made living donor liver transplantation a life-saving reality.

There are currently 120,000 people waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant in the U.S. Of these, 15,000 await liver transplants.

Although more than 6,000 liver transplants were performed last year, over 1,700 patients died while waiting on the list.

Deceased donor livers are allocated to patients based on how sick they are, determined by their MELD score, where sicker patients receive priority.

Living donation offers patients the option of transplant before they get very sick--regardless of MELD score--significantly decreasing the time they wait for a liver.

Living donation not only saves the life of the recipient; it also frees up a liver for a patient on the waiting list who does not have that option.

The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) are numerical, objective scales that allocate available livers to the sickest patients. Patients move up the list as their scores increase.

The first living donor liver transplant took place in 1988. Since then, living donors have continued giving the gift of life and making a difference.

When a recipient has a living donor, the wait time for transplant is shorter and the transplant can be scheduled in advanced when the recipient is in good health and when it is convenient for both the donor and the recipient.

Financial burdens shouldn’t prevent the gift of life. The National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC) can offer financial support for living donor travel expenses.

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