DETROIT – Sandy Webster knows the impact the gift of life can have on a family.
Webster, 54, has an autoimmune disease that affects her kidneys. Her father donated his kidney to her in 1977, and it lasted until 1995. Her husband, Christopher Webster, donated a kidney to her then.
In 2015, doctors told Webster she would need a third kidney transplant. Her son, Chris Webster, was the best match.
"It has totally changed her life. Before the transplant, before she got the kidney from our son, she couldn't hardly talk without getting winded. She couldn't walk 3 feet without feeling tired. She just wasn't feeling good; always not feeling good. Now, not only is she feeling great and she has no trouble walking, even swimming, doing sports, that kind of stuff. She feels great. Her attitude is great. It's totally changed her entire life," said Christopher Webster.
"This kidney is a lot younger than me, and I think the energy level that I have now is just tremendous," Webster said.
"I signed up for a kickball league. I started paying tennis again. I spend five days a week at the pool. I've started yoga. There's just so much energy that sometimes I have to get it out, so it’s a lot of fun," Webster said. "I've done things. I've had all-nighters at a rock band that a typical young person would do. I just do things very different now that I see my son do."
Christopher Webster is so grateful for what the gift of life has done for his wife and his family that when the opportunity presented itself to donate another organ, he quickly volunteered. This time a high school friend, Kimberly McCowan needed a liver transplant.
"She got thrown off a horse when she was in high school; broke her back in multiple places. The pain meds have destroyed her liver," Christopher Webster said.
While waiting for a donor, McCowan learned about living organ donation and put a plea out on Facebook.
"I've been fairly open on Facebook about my journey and what's going on, and he contacted me and said he wanted to help, and it blew me away," McCowan said.
Living organ donation came about because of the critical shortage of dead donors and is an option for patients needing a kidney or liver transplant. Gift of Life Michigan says people can also donate a lobe of their lungs.
There are about 6,000 living organ donations each year.
According to Donate Life America, 1 in 4 living donors are not biologically related to the recipient. It is an option for patients who could face a lengthy wait for a donor to die.
Webster stepping forward to donate part of his liver gave McCowan hope for a future.
"Life, more time with my kids, my grandkids, my friends," McCowan said.
While Webster went through initial testing at the Henry Ford Transplant Institute, he unfortunately was not a match for McCowan.
"It was devastating," Chris Webster said.
According to the Henry Ford Transplant Institute, because a liver can regrow, patients can receive a portion of a liver from someone else. There are also few risks, recipient success rate is higher and donors can continue to lead full lives while their liver regrows.
"I would say if you take all the people who come in for possible organ donation to their loved one or friend, about 25 percent will actually make it through the process and be a match to get to the point of actually doing the operation. Most of that is not due to blood typing or specific immunology or cross-matching issues, it's mostly related to how the liver is able to be split into two parts," said Dr. Atsushi Yoshia, surgical director of liver transplants for Henry Ford Transplant Institute.
McCowan is still waiting for a liver transplant. The Websters wanted to share their story so that more people will consider living organ donation.
"It literally saves their life and doesn't just saving their life, it gives them an awesome quality of life for the rest of their life," Christopher Webster said.
Gift of Life Michigan said living organ donation should be weighed carefully, with donors considering risks of surgery and impact later in life. The agency also says most donors live healthy and long lives.
For more information on the living donor liver transplant program at the Henry Ford Transplant Institute, click here.
For more information living organ donation, click here.