02/01/2025
*Please share to help*
Hi friends, Mark lives in Winnipeg and has a nonalcohol-related terminal liver disease called Nodular Regenerative Hyperplasia (NRH). He is on the organ transplant list for a liver and needs a living donor with blood type O+, O-, B+ or B- to donate at the Toronto General Hospital to save his life.
Mark is a loving son and caregiver to his elderly, 87-year-old mother, who is now doing more to support him than he can for her. He is a dedicated brother to his two siblings and uncle to his four nieces and nephews. He loves his family very much. And we love him.
For a person diagnosed with liver disease, there is a long and difficult wait for a deceased donor. Sadly, some patients will die waiting. Every three days, a person dies in Ontario because they don't get the lifesaving transplant they need.
Living liver donation is when a live person donates a portion of their liver. A living donor’s liver regenerates in approximately six weeks! In finding a living donor, Mark will be removed from the deceased donor list, and everyone else eagerly waiting for a liver will move up one spot. The living donor will be saving TWO lives: Mark and the next person on the waiting list for a deceased donor!
Since 1990, more than 1,300 living liver donor transplants have been done at Toronto General Hospital. All donors have returned to their regular lifestyle with no restrictions.
The donor does not need to be a relative or of the same ethnicity (that matters for stem cells, not organs). The criteria for living organ donors are different than for blood donors. If you are not eligible to donate blood, you may still be able to be a living organ donor.
Mark was working full-time in the hospitality industry but has not been able to do any work for months. He is an avid swimmer, enjoying hikes, long, fast-paced walks and travelling. He loves to cook amazing large feasts for family and friends. Yet, now he is hospitalized. Due to his condition, his appetite decreased, and he had lost significant weight and strength, leaving him weak and mostly bed-bound. He is being fed through a nasogastric tube, but is gaining strength, and is able to walk farther and farther each day, as he prepares physically in the hopes of finding a donor for surgery in Toronto.
Mark is trying to look past the transplant and into his life afterward. He wants to see continue to spend time with his mother and siblings and watch his nieces and nephew grow and raise their own families.
Anyone with blood type O+, O-, B+ or B- between the ages of 16 and 60 and in good health (no diabetes, cancer, kidney or heart disease) can apply to be Mark’s living liver donor.
Learn more about Mark on the Mark Needs A Liver page or website and help to spread the word by sharing the post on those pages:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564998881098
www.MarkNeedsALiver.ca
To learn more about living donation and to apply to become Mark’s living liver donor, please visit https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx. There is a 13-page health history to be completed here: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Documents/Living_Donor_Health_History_Form.pdf. Completing and submitting this health history is your application.
You must provide proof of blood type, either from your blood donor card (or app) or through a family physician. The application form asks for Mark’s full name (Mark Sheldon Kagan) and date of birth (February 15, 1958).
Candidates go through a comprehensive assessment to ensure they are healthy enough to donate.
For expenses like travel, food, accommodation, and income replacement, there is a reimbursement program called the Living Organ Donor Expense Reimbursement Program (LODRP). The program will reimburse expenses even if you get part-way through the screening process and change your mind or aren’t accepted. You can also submit receipts for reimbursement throughout the process and don’t need to wait until after the surgery. You can live anywhere in Canada and still be reimbursed for travel to Toronto—more information here: Living Organ Donor Reimbursement Program (LODRP) Province of Manitoba: https://residents.gov.mb.ca › file. There are other funding resources available as well and we will help ensure that you do not lose on out-of-pocket expenses.
Anyone can help by sharing this post.
If you’d like answers to any questions about living liver donation, contact:
Centre for Living Organ Donation at UHN
Phone: 416-340-5400
Email: livingorgandonation@UHN.ca
Website: http://www.livingorgandonation.ca
You can ask questions anonymously to learn more about living liver donation. Communications between a potential living donor and donor team are confidential and not shared with the recipient.
The UHN Centre for Living Donation hosts weekly on-line information sessions for potential donors, people on the waitlist and caregivers. To register for the next Potential Living Liver Donors session, please visit https://givelifeuhn.eventbrite.ca.
To view stories of living liver donors and recipients across Canada, visit www.greatactions.ca.
Please share this with anyone you know who might be willing to help. We will need someone brave and generous to give me the gift of life.
Thank you so much to anyone who applies and spreads the word. Mark’s family and friends are deeply grateful to you.
Medical & health
