DONOR | Dale's Story

Dale Withrow

LIVING Liver DONOR NEEDED

SUCCESS STORY! Shared in American Sign Language video (ASL) - My Liver Transplant Journey: A Call for Hope, a Gift of Life

ON MAY 22, 2025 A LIVING DONOR’S LIVER MADE IT POSSIBLE TO GET THE HCC CANCEROUS LIVER OUT OF MY BODY!! I AM SO GRATEFUL! A living donor was the best possible situation for my case. I am sure it will be for many others. Both recipient and my donor (niece) are doing well in our recovery phase. Please consider this life saving option.

My diagnosis happened around July, 2024 when a 5 cm mass was discovered in the liver. After many scans/discussions/biopsy the verdict was indeed it was cancerous (HCC). Blew my mind considering nothing in my family would have made me think I’d have this issue. The HCC diagnosis was around Sept, 2024. That’s when I discovered Dr. Cameron’s DONOR APP…Wrote up a story got word out…

But there’s a silver lining: I’ve seen what a transplant can do. I remember in 2008; my son received a heart transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital. That gave him 13 extra years with us—13 years of laughter, love, and memories. Now, I’m my turn hoping for my own miracle. I dream of living another 30 years to see my wife, my 5 children, and their families grow.

I know it’s a big ASK to consider becoming a living donor, but it’s also one of the selfless and life-changing gifts you can give. If my story touches your heart, I’d love for you to reach out to others that you may know needing an organ by contacting Johns Hopkins Hospital to learn more. Their team will be with you throughout the whole process and no question is too silly. BOTTOM LINE….YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY to make a LIFE CHANGING event in someone’s life and their family by offering to be a living donor. It is a big ask…it is also a life changing event…your recipient will be eternally grateful at your generosity. GO ahead…reach out to Johns Hopkins Hospital…even if just to learn about the whole process so you are informed to share with others if you aren’t able to be a donor for various reasons. The more people know the more life changing events happens for one person and everyone connected to that one person (recipient) for many years to come!

START YOUR JOURNEY

Become Dale Withrow's Donor

If you are considering being a living donor please use links below to contact Dale Withrow'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

Johns Hopkins Hospital

1800 Orleans St, Baltimore, MD, 21287

(410) 614-2989 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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