As a Living Donor, a Mother Gives Her Son the Gift of Life Twice

If you drive by Amy and Dan Witzigreuter's Lakewood home, you may see Eve, Luke and Paul bouncing gleefully on their trampoline. The scene is more than charming: It is downright miraculous. In his short life, Paul has endured countless medical ailments--and a liver transplant.

"He has come such a long way," says Amy. "He plays, he likes to be outside. We finally feel like his health problems aren't so bad." Paul's troubles began immediately following his birth, when he was jaundiced. But it wasn't typical newborn jaundice causing his skin to yellow.

A series of tests revealed that Paul did not have a gall bladder and his kidneys were small, diseased and full of cysts. Doctors said he would eventually need a kidney transplant. A couple weeks later, Paul underwent a liver biopsy and was diagnosed with biliary atresia: His bile ducts were blocked, affecting the flow of bile from his liver. Paul also needed a liver transplant.

"We were devastated," says Amy. At six weeks old, Paul was placed on the waiting list for a liver.

"He was totally yellow, he had a huge belly, and he had no energy," says Amy. "He would smile, but he was so uncomfortable. We knew it was a matter of keeping him well and getting him bigger until a donor was found." But gaining weight was not easy for Paul with his diseased liver and kidneys. To make matters worse, he was hospitalized with dehydration and sepsis.

"We just didn't know how sick Paul was going to get before a donor was found." Both Dan and Amy were eligible to be living donors but surgeons recommended Amy because she was smaller. In September 2005, when Paul was eight months old and only 16 pounds, he received a lobe of his mother's liver.

After the surgery, Amy recovered beautifully. Things went less smoothly for Paul, who faced acute rejection and multiple other problems until receiving supplemental immunoglobulin treatments. Finally, says Amy, his health improved dramatically.

"His medical fragility is gone," she says. "There was a time--a long time--when every day was life and death. It's not like that anymore." Paul will likely need a kidney transplant. He eats normally, plays with his brother and sister and works with tutors to catch up with his peers developmentally.

After this life-altering experience, Amy decided to volunteer with Lifebanc. She encourages people to consider living donation. "It's not that difficult. I would do it again," she says. And not just for her son, who is unable to receive one of her kidneys. "I would donate a kidney to someone because I know what it meant to our family," says Amy. It meant the world.

You have the power to save lives by becoming a registered organ and tissue donor right now or by saying "yes" when renewing your driver license or state ID at the BMV.