Our son had acute liver failure and needed a new liver at 17 months old. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. Here’s another one: My brother donated part of his liver to our son. This is our story.

Our 17 month old son, Brooks, has always been a smiling, joyful, healthy boy. We had to do IVF to conceive him, so he has always been considered our little miracle and fighter. My husband, Matt, and I typically refer to him as our “Wild Animal” because he’s running and climbing all over the place.

On Wednesday 11/6/19, we noticed Brooks’ eyes and skin looked a little yellow. The next morning (which also happened to be Matt’s birthday) we took him into his regular pediatrician to get checked out. She sent us directly to Akron Children’s ER for a full workup for jaundice. There they did bloodwork, Xrays and ultrasounds. Structurally, his liver looked normal aside from seeing textured patches on it. However, his liver levels were extremely high so they admitted us to the ICU overnight. The next day, Friday 11/8/19, we were transported via ambulance to the Cleveland Clinic as he was diagnosed with acute liver failure and may need a transplant. As they broke that news to us, we were in complete shock. We had still been holding out hope for going home that day. How was this happening to our sweet boy, when just two days prior he was running around like nothing was wrong?

As we stayed in the PICU at the Cleveland Clinic, they ran test after test to determine the cause of his liver failure. The word we often heard was that everyone was “perplexed.” Most results were inconclusive except that they knew his liver was failing. He tested positive for RSV which was determined as a possible trigger but there had to be some other underlying cause. It was also discovered that he only has one kidney but Praise the Lord it is functioning well and currently not an issue. Matt and I also submitted samples for genetic testing to see if they could determine any causes, but most of the results would take 1-2 weeks to come back. We were on the emotional rollercoaster of bouncing back and forth between thinking he was improving and could keep his own liver and then seeing his levels get worse, leading to more conversations about a transplant.

On Monday 11/11/19, it was decided to begin a full workup on Brooks in order to be listed on the transplant list. We met with what felt like hundreds of people from numerous departments in the hospital who were analyzing him and our family history. That night he was added to the top of the transplant list as a class 1A, meaning he was in urgent need of a liver. Word spread like wildfire that we were also looking for a living donor, and we have felt so incredibly blessed to have had over 270 applicants who were willing to risk their own lives to save our son’s. Our angels.

On Tuesday 11/12/19, Matt began the full screening process to become Brooks’ living donor. We were convinced he would be the absolute best candidate. He had been through about 6 hours of testing when he got called back to the office to discover that he has a blood clotting disorder that disqualified him as a donor. We were all devastated. And they basically ruled out all of Matt’s family in case they also had the same blood clotting disorder. I couldn’t donate because at the time I was 15 weeks pregnant. Praise the Lord for my baby brother, Grant, who had flown up from Texas to be with us this entire time. He was in the room when we found out Matt wasn’t a match and he immediately called the transplant coordinator to see if he could begin the screening process. They admitted Grant and the testing began. While his testing was going on, our best friends from Columbus drove in to wait at the hospital to be backups in case something didn’t match with Grant. We can’t stop praising God for having so many incredibly selfless people in our lives.

It wasn’t until 2:30pm the following day, Wednesday 11/13/19, that I got a call from Grant saying “Let’s go baby!! They’re on their way to get Brooksy now for surgery!” We sobbed. Like crazy, ugly cry sobbed. We all hugged and cheered and cried and kissed our sweet boy as the transplant team trickled in to get him. They let me ride down to the OR with Brooks on my chest and Matt walking beside us. Our amazing surgeon, Dr. Hashimoto, greeted us and rubbed Brooks’ nose and got a little smile out. They gave Brooks some sedation while he was still on me, and then we gave our kisses and passed him off to the nurse. We were able to get a few sweet smiles from him as he snuggled up against his “Wubby.”

We got hourly text updates from the OR nurses. They were incredible and even used smiley faces ensuring us that they were taking good care of Brooks. We heard that Grant’s liver was healthy and the “perfect size” for Brooks. Once they transplanted it, they notified us that the blood was already flowing through. Both surgeries went great without any complications. Grant’s took about 6 hours and Brooks’ about 13. It was discovered in surgery that Brooks’ liver was essentially dead, so it confirmed that he desperately needed a new one. We thank God every day for our hero, Uncle Grant, who saved our baby boy’s life, for world-class surgeons & medical staff and the most loving and encouraging support system.

The outpouring of love and prayers from everyone has been such a tremendous blessing. My words will never be able to fully express our gratitude and how blessed we feel. While this journey has felt like a bad dream we want to wake up from, our Brooksy is a fighter and we’re trusting in God’s protection and healing. God gave us this sweet boy after all of our prayers and we know He will heal him as well. So please, please, please keep the prayers coming. God is good.

“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be numbered.” -Job 9:10

Love, Matt & Andrea Campbell

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.