4-year-old girl receives life-saving liver transplant in 14-hour surgery

PITTSBURGH — A 4-year-old girl received life-saving surgery after a stranger donated part of his liver to her.

Jamie, who has been in foster care her whole life, was born with a rare disease and would have died without the donation of David Denovchek.

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"In a day and age when the word hero is thrown around freely, David really epitomizes what that word means," said Marilyn Pape, of Trumbull County Children's Services.

Jamie was waiting at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for about a month and was in desperate need of a transplant when Denovchek stepped in.

"Her story touched me. There is this awesome little girl who clearly has not had a fair shake of things in life, has had nothing but bad luck, and I thought, 'I've had a good life,'" Denovchek said. "I haven't had these kinds of troubles. I couldn't imagine what that would be like for somebody and I just thought maybe I can help."

Over 500 people inquired about being a donor to Jamie, but Denovchek was the one who was a match.

The surgery took 14 hours to complete, but Jamie pulled through.

"All indications are that her liver is functioning well, that it is doing the process that we expect it to do, and that her body is tolerating quite well," said Dr. George Mazariegos, of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Denovchek is also doing well in recovery.

"He underwent roughly the removal of 25 percent of his liver and he's recovering well and hopefully should go home in the next three to four days," said Dr. Abhinav Humar, of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Denovchek has yet to meet Jamie.

"Eventually, he wants to meet Jamie. And we can't wait for that day when the two can meet," said Pape.

Doctors hope Jamie will be off a ventilator in a week. If everything goes as planned, she will leave the hospital in about a month.

Denovchek, who works as a vet tech and will have to be off work for 12 weeks following the surgery, has set up a Go Fund Me page to help cover some of his additional medical costs. Anyone wishing to make a donation can CLICK HERE.

It will take about eight weeks for Denovchek's liver to regenerate.

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