DONOR | Karen's Story

Karen Yarley

Robert Spring Needs A LIVING Liver DONOR

Looking for a liver for my dad.

Robert is my dad. He was an amusement park enthusiast, black belt in karate, outdoors lover, good food lover, great chef, prank lover, and much more before his health started to decline. He has always been someone I could turn to for an answer for almost any subject as he's a very logical and smart person (genius in Mensa). He's a grandfather to 5 children, who love him very much. He's the father to 4 kids who also love him very much. 2 of his children were his step-children who he helped to raise to adulthood (4 teenagers under one roof and everyone lived haha!) Having teenagers of my own now I would call him a saint!

I invited my dad to come stay with my husband and I so we could go to our local amusement park. Dad declined and said he was too sick. I asked him to just drive down and I would cart him around the park. He said he was too sick for even that long of a drive (this is the same man who drove cross country at least 6 times in my life!) We live 3 hours away and bought our house 5 years ago and he has never been able to visit us. He also gets high ammonia now that affects his thinking, so when I call him, he is unable to recall things I know he would normally have an answer for. He is in and out of the hospital as well for ascites, internal bleeding, high ammonia, and other things that come along with liver failure and it's very hard to watch.

A transplant would mean a new start for my dad. Maybe he would be able to come see my house that I've worked so hard to get. He would be able to watch his grandchildren grow up and have children of their own. He would maybe be able to go to an amusement park again. He could maybe teach someone else his awesome karate skills. I know for sure that he would be grateful and feel a lot better than he does now.

I am going to try myself, but I do worry that my high cholesterol and odd vascular system may not allow me to donate. I know only a small percentage get approved. The more people he has trying, the better his odds will be for finding a compatible donor. Thanks for reading!

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Become Robert Spring's Donor

If you are considering being a living donor please use links below to contact Robert Spring'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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Liver DONOR NEEDED

Life is hard. But it's harder if you're stupid. John Wayne

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