Jacob Cooper, a 10-month-old boy who was born with biliary atresia, a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts, received the best gift you can have at Christmas, life, thanks to a stranger who donated part of his liver.
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Dr. Yuri Genyk of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles told CBS News what Jacob needed a liver transplant to survive. “I was getting sicker and sicker. He was hospitalized with an infection before the transplant. I was seriously ill, ”he explained.
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Chad and Aileen Cooper, Jacob’s parents, immediately volunteered as donors to save their son. But after being tested, neither of them was a match. On the contrary, after the studies, the doctors discovered a tumor in Chad’s abdomen.
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So not only were they not eligible to donate to their son, but the family had a second medical crisis to deal with.
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To waste as little time as possible, the doctors began the search for another living donor for little Jacob. A week later, the search returned … nearly 2,000 miles away in Ohio.
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That stranger, Michael Speck, 64, is a father and grandfather who had already donated a kidney to a minister years before. And now he was volunteering again to donate part of his liver to save a stranger.
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“The surgeon told me it was a 10-month-old baby. When I found out about that, I started crying. “Speck told CBS.
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In October, in the midst of the pandemic, Speck traveled to Los Angeles to perform the transplant, which was a success.
“There are so many people who can do what I can do,” Speck said.
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Keck Medicine of USC hospital shared a testimony from Speck on his Twitter account, in which he says he thinks about the happiness of Jacob’s parents to bring their son home just for Christmas.
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What is it like to be a living organ donor? Meet Michael J. Speck, who participated in the living organ donation program at Keck Medicine of USC. If you are interested in participating, visit https://t.co/Z20NPAP52V. pic.twitter.com/yJwtwSOpOd
— Keck Medicine of USC (@KeckMedUSC) December 22, 2020
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Through a video call, Jacob’s parents were able to thank Speck for helping them keep the most precious things in their lives with them. “You saved our son’s life”Aileen told him. Speck said it was an honor and that being able to donate to a child was a miracle.
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Jacob’s father also underwent surgery and is now recovering favorably after the detected tumor. Jacob’s transplant was the 400th pediatric liver transplant performed at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
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