DONOR | Scott's Story

Scott Mack

Jo Anne Mack Needs A LIVING Liver DONOR

My name is Scott Mack and I am the youngest of three siblings. Our mom, Jo Anne Mack, is battling liver disease. This is our story:

As an occupational therapist, my mom has helped countless people with both her professional expertise and uplifting attitude. Whether she’s working in her beautiful garden, hanging out with family friends or spending time with her new granddaughter, Madison, being in her presence is truly a blessing.

Living with liver failure has taken a treacherous toll on my mom’s life. The things she loves and looks forward to on a daily basis now must take a back seat. Doctor appointments and hospital visits are increasingly common. Though she’s quietly managed her symptoms for longer than she chooses to let anyone know, this disease has been physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting for her.

In the last two years, my mom’s condition has gotten worse. Receiving a liver transplant from a living donor is currently her best option. Finding a liver donor will not only save my mom’s life, it will give her back the life she deserves. She’ll have the strength to return to the things she loves and get many more years with family, friends, and loved ones alike.

Today, I’m writing to ask for help. While only around 15% of applicants are deemed a match, by sharing this story with your family and friends, you can help us find the living donor we need to give my mom a new liver and a new life.

Many people don’t know that a liver can regrow its own missing portions. In fact, healthy livers can completely regenerate in a matter of weeks. For us, getting a living donor means getting to keep our mom for decades longer. If you want to learn more about the process, please call the Transplant Center at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) at 866-925-3897.

Thank you so much for reading.

START YOUR JOURNEY

Become Jo Anne Mack's Donor

If you are considering being a living donor please use links below to contact Jo Anne Mack'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

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