DONOR | Kristen's Story

Kristen Masterson

Amanda Werkle Needs A LIVING Liver DONOR

You are So Loved Amanda! You got this! Woot woot

Amanda gives the best hugs. Her hugs have gotten me through some of the hardest days.

She is the friend you can call any time of day and she will provide a listening ear (although growing up there was a strict 9pm cutoff so any exciting news from middle school or high school, you would have to wait until morning) ;)

Amanda is the friend that when you had a cold/ flu/ stomach bug in high school she would drive to your house with homemade chicken noodle soup. She still does this today. She is so thoughtful and caring.

Amanda is the friend that shows up. She shows up to laugh, shows up to sing, shows up to dance, shows up to bring joy to others.

Amanda has been a best friend to me for almost 30 years. She is pure sunshine to those who are lucky enough to know her. She is loved by so many and the world is such a beautiful place with her in it.

Last year, Amanda began to experience liver failure. With the love and support of her family (Mom, sister and husband),the amazing medical team at Yale that cared for her, friends, her own will to live, and the many prayers that were answered, Amanda is with us today. Amanda has fought and continues to fight. Amanda is so strong, determined, and ready to get back to feeling like herself.

Many of her days are filled with doctors appointments and trying to feel her best. Ultimately, Amanda will need a liver donation to get back to all the things she loves, wants to do, and accomplish in life.

A transplant would be lifesaving for Amanda. A transplant would enable Amanda to resume everything she was able to do before she became ill. It would give her a chance to live pain-free and carefree.

Kindly help in any way you can. You or someone you know could be a match and help save Amanda’s life. Please consider filling out an evaluation or sharing this story of our Amazing Amanda. Thank you so much! Grateful for you all! -Kristen

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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Kristen's Patient

Amanda

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

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