DONOR | Lucia's Story

Lucia Rubin-Cadrain

Nathan Parks Needs A LIVING Liver DONOR

Help Save Nate's Life

If you know Nate, you probably know him as a friendly, loving, silly presence with a booming laugh. What you might not know is that Nate was born with hepatitis C, which he got in utero due to his father receiving a contaminated blood transfusion. Sadly, his father passed away when Nate was 10 due to his own congenital health issues. Thanks to modern medicine, Nate was cured of hepatitis C after graduating from college. However, he is now left with end-stage liver disease (cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver).

Nate and I met in 2010, during our freshman year of college. I’ve been with him through thick and thin for over a decade of health struggles. In the first few years of our relationship, we enjoyed traveling, biking, and attending live music and comedy shows, but then Nate’s illness robbed us of much of our 20s and now early 30s.

Liver failure has turned Nate’s life upside down. He currently relies on a plethora of medications that make him feel terrible on a daily basis, but he can't stop taking them until he gets a new liver. He is unable to work and even simple things like driving have become nearly impossible. His life has been dominated by illness, making it challenging to enjoy the things he loves, like spending time with his family and friends and taking long walks with his beloved dog, Leo.

A liver transplant isn't just another surgery; it's a lifeline. For Nate, it would mean a new start, a chance to break free from this illness and regain his life. It would let him return to work, be part of the community, and chase his dreams. Finding a living donor is our only hope to improve his quality of life and give him the opportunity he deserves.

One remarkable thing about Living Donor liver donation is that it only requires a part of a healthy liver from a living donor. Both the donor and the recipient's livers regenerate within a matter of weeks, which is incredible.

Nate and I can't do this alone; we need our community to rally around us. By sharing his story with friends, family, and on social media, you can help raise awareness about his urgent need for a living liver donor.

You can also take a big step by learning how to start a living donor evaluation. Being a living donor is an incredibly selfless act that can not only bring renewed hope, but also literally save Nate’s life.

Nate’s journey began with adversity, but with your help, he can rewrite the ending. Help us work towards a future where he can enjoy the simple pleasures of life and create memories with friends. A future where he can be my travel buddy, road trip navigator, and forever concert date.

Your support and willingness to share his story may be the light at the end of the tunnel we so desperately need. Together, we can make a difference in Nate’s life and mine, giving him the chance to pursue his dreams and unlock his greatest potential.

For more information about living organ donation, please visit https://www.organdonor.gov/learn/process/living-donation

START YOUR JOURNEY

Become Nathan Parks's Donor

If you are considering being a living donor please use links below to contact Nathan Parks'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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Liver DONOR NEEDED (invited)