MTN Recipient Stories

in

If you would like to submit a story please use the Recipient Story Submission Form.

Tyler Barker

At 11 weeks of age, Tyler Barker was already in the fight of his life. Tyler was born with a rare congenital disease called biliary atresia, a blockage in the ducts that carry a liquid from the liver to the gallbladder. Upon discovery of his condition, Little Tyler was rushed into a surgery for a procedure called a Kasai. The Kasai procedure creates an open duct so bile can drain from the liver.

Carol and Michelle

Carol and Michelle are cousins who share a unique bond, one that most family members rarely experience: they both received life-saving liver transplants thanks to the generosity of organ donors. Carol, a mother of five, was diagnosed with Primary Liver Cancer nearly 20 years ago and after extensive treatment, learned she was a candidate for a liver transplant. With only two weeks to live and at 100 pounds, on November 1st, 1990 Carol was the tenth liver transplant at University of Kansas Medical Center. Because of the kindness of a stranger, she is alive and well and cancer-free.

Andrew Townsend

Andrew was diagnosed with diabetes at the young age of 17, and then diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, (PKD) a genetic disorder of the kidneys and liver. In 2006, after years of living with two increasingly damaging diseases, Andrew entered end-stage renal disease. Doctors had to remove his kidneys in preparation for transplant and for 14 months he lived on hemodialysis, making travel difficult and completely altering his lifestyle.

Merle Zuel

Merle Zuel was diagnosed with a defective aortic valve at the age of ten. Leading a rather normal life until age 34, Merle was admitted to the hospital with severe congestive heart failure in January 1996. After many years of treatment and medical interventions, Merle was evaluated for transplant in late 2005. It was determined then that an aortic valve replacement would be done. Surviving for another year, Merle grew stronger, but his heart continued to be a problem. Transplant was inevitable.

Wil Wallace

Wil had been sick so long, he can hardly recall a time when he felt good. For years doctors were treating an unknown lung disease that required him to take a lot of medication and be on oxygen to breathe. As years passed, Wil had to quit his job as a teacher because the inhalers and oxygen left his body too tired to even walk up a flight of stairs.

Rocky Johnson

In 1998, Rocky Johnson began having heart problems. Doctors spent the next four years treating Rocky. Then in 2002, he was taken to Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City to be evaluated for a heart transplant. While there, his “system completely shut down.” He spent the next seven months waiting for a heart transplant. He jokingly says that while in the hospital he tried to convince the nurses that he was part Native-American, but they didn’t believe him, as his skin had turned gray due to his heart condition.